~~Posted by kenosha Marge
I’ve watched goshwoggled as the left Blogs, Corporate Media and Obamacrats have perpetuated the myth that PUMA and other disaffected Democrats/Liberals are nothing more than disappointed Clinton Democrats who simply refuse to go through their stages of grief and move on. The “Just Get Over It” crowd is so busypromoting what they think the problem is that they have no idea what is the problem. Or more likely they do know and won’t accept/admit that it is “their” actions that have caused the problem not the angry citizens.
Most of Senator Clinton’s supporters have long since moved on. They are angry about what was done to Senator Clinton by the Democratic Party, the DNC and the Corporate Media. They are angry about corruption and lies. They are angry about misogyny within the Democratic Party, the DNC and the Corporate Media. They are enraged by the constant drumbeat of requests for them to “get over” their disappointment and get back in line. They are also enraged over it being suggested that they are somehow not “good” Democrats if they don’t just do as they are told.
The problem with that perception by the Democratic Party, the DNC and the Corporate Media is that the disaffection and anger is not about Senator Clinton per se. It is about the process used against her. It is about deceit and corruption. It is about insults to her and her supporters. Only a few stubborn holdouts still cling to the illusion that somehow, someway she will get on that ticket. The rest, the majority, have moved on. They’ve moved on to believing that as Democrats, as Americans, and as decent citizens they shouldn’t accept what has been done.
I was a supporter of Senator Clinton. I liked her fighting spirit, her wonkiness, her pragmatism and her intellect. I voted for her and was proud and happy to do so. I have cast too many votes in too many primaries for people I didn’t much like and certainly didn’t trust.
When it became clear to me that the Democratic Party, the Corrupt DNC and the horrendously corrupt Corporate Media would not allow her to win I was angry. I’m still angry. Anyone that values honestly, ethics and fair play should be angry too. If you are one that believes the end justifies the means then you may notgive a hoot how things are accomplished so long as they are accomplished. You may think that all that matters is that a Democrat sits in the Oval Office. That attitude is the antithesis of all that I hold dear and all that I believe.
I say, long, loud and often that I cannot and will not support the Democratic Party ticket in November. Obama is a cheat and a liar and I will not vote for him. The days when I held my nose and voted for any critter with a “D” after his/her name are gone.
I wouldn’t vote for any ticket that included Joe Biden under any circumstances. I remember when Joe Biden was Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee to confirm Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. No woman that witnessed the ravaging of Anita Hill while Biden sat idly by should ever forget or forgive the travesty that happened on his watch. That he ended up voting against Thomas means nothing. Professor Hill may someday forgive him. I will not.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/biden-and-anita-hill-revisited/
http://womensissues.about.com/b/2008/08/23/is-joe-biden-a-womens-issues-advocate-clarence-thomas-hearings-may-be-indicative.htm
The so-called “Clinton Democrats” might better now be called the Anti-Corruption Democrats and let us not forget the newly energized Feminist Democrats. I have waited a long time to see the women”s movement rise from the dead.
There are many reasons that the Democratic Party is not and will not be as “unified” as the powers that be like to pretend. Being “disappointed” or “grief-stricken” over the loss/theft of Senator Clinton in the primary is a myth. It”s also just one more in a very long list of insults hurled at those that refuse to jump on the Band Wagon or toe the party line.
There was a time when political parties tried to entice voters. This new tactic of dismissing and insulting them seems more than a little dimwitted. But that”s just the opinion of one disappointed old woman crying in her herbal tea. Pfft!
Filed under: Current Politics | Tagged: Anita Hill, Barack Obama, Clarence Thomas, Clinton Democrats, Corporate Media, Democratic Party, DNC, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, misogyny, PUMA, Supreme Court |
Well said. I like your phrase “Anti-Corruption Dems.” One of the reasons I am a PUMA is that I want to clean up the mess in the Democratic Party.
As far as I’m concerned “unify” is a blender setting between “chop” and “puree.”
KenoshaMarge, I’ve read some of your posts previously; I believe you might have posted on RawStory and C&L at times?
I was right there with you everytime!
I could not believe the way “progressives” attacked you.
(If this isn’t the same Marge, apologies…still love this article, and even though it’s a CENTRAL fact, even PUMA members seem to not explain it this clearly.)
Great post!
destardi,
I never posted at C & L or at Raw Story. I stopped going there, as so many other places, long ago. I used to comment but even that became pointless. I would make my comments and run like hell before I was run over by the patter of tiny Obamacrat feet.
No apologies needed. And glad you liked the article.
I think there are many of us saying what I said. It’s the listening part that’s getting lost.
And Arabella, I will now think of unify every time I use my blender. And I will smile. 🙂 Thank you.
Great post!!
There is no one as blind as those who refuse to see.
Yes, indeed! I am SO over being a Democrat if the Dems are just another corrupt party. I could care less which corrupt party holds power. It seems that so many Dems are willing to toss out their values because of their power lust. And I don’t buy their excuses that Dems have to use any means necessary to get BO in the WH so that The Saint can then reform the nation. If he’s corrupt now, he’ll be even more corrupt once he has real power. For the O-worshippers who turn a blind eye to his complete 180s, I pity them for their complete faith in BO’s “righteousness.” They are in for a BIG surprise!!
kenosha marge, your post is a great answer to Frank Rich’s latest article in the NYT on Sunday. He basically says the ‘holdouts for hillary’ are practically non-existent. I don’t think the recent polls support that opinion…and that mccain made a brilliant political move but a dastardly move for the country…online bloggers have their eyes and ears to the pulse of the people because his highly paid drivel does not jive with what i’ve read and seen…
what has happened to this country???
http://www.carpetride.wordpress.com
Great points. remember after they pushed Hillary to suspend how just about each article about us was offering us the stages of grief recipe? Lanny Davies even did that after Denver.
Not one of them found the right tone to address us – maybe because they refused to accept our grievances. So, they buried their heads in the sand and told us to get over it. They are now reaping the benefits of this tin ear:
http://edgeoforever.wordpress.com/2008/09/09/women-change-standing-in-wapoabc-poll-by-20-points/
kenoshaMarge,
Great article. You might also mention that NEVER has the democratic party been so divided as when this “unifier” took over.
I had never even CONSIDERED voting republican B.O. (before Obama). This will be a lesson well learned for me, and, I’m sure, may others.
Best wishes.
-MS
oops, that’s MANY others.
-MS
I agree ParkLopeVoter.
We may have held our noses to vote but Democrats mostly stuck together. Note: mostly. The Democratic Party might well have remembered that old saying about “Democrats fall in love and Republicans fall in line”. They expect, because many of the unhappy voters were women that they would “fall in line”. Maybe not so much.
I know that if someone had told me a year ago that I would not only contemplate voting for a Republican but be perfectly content to do so I would have thought they needed to head for the nearest medical facility to have their screws tightened.
Now I will vote McCain/Palin, I am now an Independent and the world is truly upside down.
But still somewhere in my heart I am still a Democrat. It’s been a part of my identity my entire adult life. It’s just that I am an Anti-Corruption and A Feminist Democrat.
If we do not standup now and refuse to accept this travesty, when will we?
This is past Senator Clinton and the faux new democratic party.
It is our duty stop illegal elections that hurt our country.
The obots think insults and threats will work.
All that does is make most of us take a second look and say “no way no how not ever”
COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS
PUMAS,BUBBAS, AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE
We will never defeat corruption by going along with it that is a for sure fact! They will realize their mistake on Nov. 5th. I like the B.O. (Before Obama) and A. O. (After Obama) since he and his people like to compare him to a messiah we’ll use that when we talk about the party and the lesson it had to learn for this fake!
CQ
The comments here prove the point I was trying to make.
We aren’t grief-stricken; we’re pi$$ed off!
Could all the “experts” have gotten it more wrong?
Kenoshamarge,
Great article. You have put into words my feelings exactly. I cannot stomach the corruption in what was once my Democratic party. I will be voting for McCain/Palin in Nov., too. A year ago I would have laughed at the suggestion. In fact, since the left’s constant attacks started on Gov. Palin, I am considering voting straight republican. Who’d of thought that would ever happen?
“Could all the ”experts’ have gotten it more wrong?”
Not in a million years. Excellent post Kenoshamarge! You said it extremely well. And Arabelle Trefoil I LOVE the blender setting. That’ll be the one I use next time I mix up a batch of Margaritas, for sure.
I sat in stunned silence this morning when a client of mine started going off about how Sarah Palin had just made a shambles of her week, and she couldn’t believe how “the government” could pick someone so unqualified. I couldn’t say a word since she’s footing the bill, but as I listened to her I was awestruck that someone I considered an intelligent woman could have these views. The more I thought about it, the more I realized what the problem was; even though she is someone I have looked up to in the past as a strong woman and leader, she really is an elitist.
Sadly, it’s not the first time this election I’ve had to see someone’s true colors revealed in an unflattering light. And although a year ago I would’ve called myself a liberal, I’ve also come to the realization that maybe I’m not. I’m just a “working class” stiff (despite my college education and the fact that I love lattes and Starbucks, and think arugula makes a nice addition to any salad) that will never see eye to eye with them again. Guess it has been a year of discovery. Maybe the trolls are right – maybe I am a Republican. Nah. Just an angry Puma.
Is there no one checking storeies in the NYT? The article mentioned above by Frank Rich in Sunaday’s paper would seem to belooking at far different information than is found in today’s NYT. Today the Times discusses the fact that the Obama campaign is quite concerned about fundraising. They state that the Obama campaign finance people blame a lerge part of the problrm on the Clinton donors that have failed to come through with an expected 300 million dollars. I know where my donation went, the initials are JM and SP. I am ashamed to have to admit that I have given more to the MC camp than I did to Clinton, but this has become personal.
Marge,
The new buzzword is “sabotage”. When the McCain landslide is reported on November 5 we are going to be accused of “sabotaging” Obama’s campaign.
They’ll never be able to acknowledge that The One sabotaged his own campaign. It will forever be our fault because we are r@cist, sexist hags who had the temerity to make up our own minds.
I hope they do. If they believe we were responsible for swinging this election that gives us clout, leverage for the next one. Maybe this will make them listen. Nothing else did.
Needless to say, I’m on the same page with kenosha Marge!!
InsightAnalytical–GRL
Great post. I wish you would get in touch with Diane Rehm and explain to her why Hillary supporters “can’t/won’t get over it.” She is mystified. I sent her an email after her show a week or so ago trying to explain, but you have done a much better job.
I think everyone votes for personal reasons.
I think some former clinton supporters will vote for palin because of how they and clinton were treated during the campaign. I get it. and I respect that.
I know my reasons are personal when I vote for obama.
community organizer- I can’t, for the life of me, understand why that should be mocked. he graduated with a law degree from harvard. a law degree from harvard will get you plenty of job offers with 6 figure incomes. and he walked away from that to do community work. 10 years ago, I decided to stop what I was doing in the corporate world to work in my community, to ‘give back’ I said. I figured, at that time, I did not have a family yet, and my career in the corporate world just started, and if I didn’t do it then, I might not be able to make time later on, when my career in the corporate world flourishes. what I ‘gave’ was 2 years of my life. what I got back was priceless. 10 years later, even though I make much much more than what I made doing community work, no other job has beat the 2 years working for my community with women and children. I am not understanding why community organizers should be mocked. there is always a need for people to work in their community. most people won’t because community workers get paid next to nothing for all that they do.
another reason I have a problem with mccain- when he went on and on with his POW card, whipping it out whenever he didn’t feel like answering a question, that offended me. I am a vietnamese woman. that war happened on my land. I have a few vietnam vet buddies, whom, at one time or another have sat down with me (and a beer or two), and talked about the war. I understand, from their side, they were in the military and had to do what they had to do for their country. I get that. they understand what the the effects of their actions have done to my country. we’ve made our peace and have moved on. but to hear over and over again, the POW story JUST to win votes for presidency, cheapens that honor. my vietnam vet buddies feel the same way. I’m thinking, when you go out on your bombing activities (23 times), you’re not bombing grass, trees, and rivers. you’re bombing people. there are still many people in vietnam with no arms or legs, or are dead because of you. you say it makes you a hero. but does that also make you a murderer?
so yeah, those 2 issues resonate with me.
now, reading through all these comments and seeing why you are pissed off, I understand.
I am not going to belittle you for your choice. you can also stop belittling me for mines.
the media has a lot to do, in this election, for pitting one against another. that’s why I watch c-span now.
Kenosha Marge, this is an excellent post and says everything I wish the media was saying — it’s completely and 100% true. Even some who will very reluctantly support Obama feel this exact same way — note I will _never_ do that, but I do know a very _few_ who will — and want DNC reform _now_.
I will always be for Hillary Clinton in all the ways but one — I will _NEVER_ support Barack Obama. Never, never, never, never, never, times infinity. NEVER.
As for the high-profile Hillary Clinton supporters like Lanny Davis, I firmly believe most of ’em have been threatened with loss of work or worse if they don’t get in line and support Obama. We must needs take their utterances with a huge grain of salt, IMO, because of this strong possibility.
As for how I feel — really ticked off sums me up.
I know at least 25 people who will _never_ vote Obama (not including me; you already know where I stand) and almost all of them will vote McCain as a protest. (I won’t. I haven’t decided what I will do yet, but I know what I won’t do — see above. NOBAMA!)
The issue now is DNC reform. Without that, we’ll never get Senator Clinton or _any other qualified candidate_ to run, because they won’t be able to get through the DNC roadblocks set up to favor their hand-picked buddies — and anyone with half a brain knows this.
And we all know that Senator Clinton won the popular vote and without all the caucus rigging (see wewillnotbesilenced2008.com for further details), Obama would never have had so much as a single vote lead — and then, without the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting of 5/31/08 stealing votes for him (taking the 55 uncommitted delegates and giving ’em straight up to Obama, while stealing outright four votes from Senator Clinton and giving ’em to Obama) and then halving the votes for both Florida and MI, Obama _still_ wouldn’t have had a pledged delegate lead.
Obama is therefore a fraudulent nominee. And the DNC should be ashamed for propping him up on the one hand, and hindering a qualified, competent candidate on the other — Hillary R. Clinton.
We have the wrong candidate running this year and we all know it. The DNC should be ashamed. Truly and deeply and utterly ashamed.
They f***ed up. Big-time.
Thank you, Kenosha Marge, for calling ’em out.
Reading this post, that lays out the situation for so many so perfectly, then reading the remarks of those many…I honestly do not believe the old democratic party has the slightest idea what–with its manipulation, strangulation and suspension of the rules we honor–it has unleashed.
There simply will be no going back.
Which is fine and dandy with me.
Onward.
fieryside.blogspot.com
Caucus fraud, Caucus fraud, Caucus is fraud…
This is where we need to re-direct the DNC rules committee. These corrupt events must go away for ever. No more unregulated, arm-twisting caucuses. Everyone votes, votes get counted, one with most votes wins. Period. Superdelegates mean greater power than delegates, delegates get to pick which ever candidate they choose? Nothing about that sounds like it has anything to do with a democracy. Votes should be counted, delegates should be required to cast their votes based upon the winner of the tabulated votes. We must force, yes force, our elected officials in the Democratic party to institute fair rules. Or, we will be faced with another candidate who, like Obama, will find the loop-hole and manipulate the system to his/her advantage.
KenoshaMarge~ You hit it out of the ballpark again.
It seems we have been on the same pages forever, and through your wonderful way with words, I am able to give voice (intelligently) to my thoughts. Thank you.
A thought that I had while reading today is in response to the perception that Gov Palin was mocking community organizers. Not True. She was mocking the audacity of BO, and responding to his insult that being the mayor of such a small town was not anything to brag about.
I started thinking about when I was a community organizer. I achieved more than registering voters. I got stop signs so children could cross the street to get to school. We got the city to enforce the asbestos laws so the families who resided in the area that backed up to the commercial district w/auto repair garages could breathe. We had traffic patterns and parking patterns redesigned for the safety of the neighborhoods. We got the hospitals to close down their waste burning for the health/safety of the neighborhoods. No, I didn’t register voters, I saved the neighborhoods.
Sarah Palin was not mocking me. Not for a moment.
Now I am a social worker, I work with the families of special needs people. I have a special needs child. Palin will do what she can to help them/me/my child. Just as she has in the past.
I have been a Democrat as long as I have known about Democrats and Republicans. I see the destruction of the party of real values, by a “fresh face” who is owned by the same people who have been manipulating the roolz from behind closed doors. I want nothing more to do with that party. I think we should all put on the community organizer hat and re-organize the Democratic Party before there is nothing left of it. It begins with my vote, and my phone calls, and my letters, and my presence. I plan to actively work to reconstruct the Ds. I know there are many more of me than the Dems would care to believe.
kenoshaMarge, just excellently put! I am gonna print this and show it to everyone I know.
I lurk often, but don’t usually respond here. But I would like to add my own two cents
Feminist Democrats — this is the new coalition of Democrats. We needed a title to unify us, and you have provided it.
The real problem with the Dem Party as I see it is the lack of individual coalitions, aside from those based on race (AAD, LAD) and those that call themselves the Blue Dog Dems comprised of southern states, to have any power and are subsequently not allowed any real headway in the party discussion. The convention is supposed to be a time to discuss platforms among the many different coalitions and to debate their individual coalition platforms to try to come to a consensus. This is real Democracy at work; it is a difficult process and it isn’t pretty.
In my college days, a surprise coalition was starting to form “the pro-life Dems” which was heavily debated in WI — they just wanted their side to be heard, to try to get it in discussion for the platform. And it was hotly debated. Now, the national convention has become a dog ‘n’ pony show. They have insulted a huge voting block (i.e. Feminist Democrats), and instead chosen to call them unimportant. They never consulted us. The antithesis of Democracy.
They have lost not only our respect, votes, and money, but most importantly our hard work. Because as we all know who have actively campaigned and volunteered, it is usually the women who use their free time to do so. What the Dems have recently instituted to get more men to volunteer is pay us as campaign workers.
For the first time in my 20+ years being an ACTIVE party member, I will not campaign or work for the party during an election. I have also disaffiliated myself with all organizations that support this current party. This includes liberal as well as women’s organizations (NOW/PP/NARAL), etc. And, I’m even considering a protest vote by voting for McCain/Palin. I’m willing to accept the consequences for four more years. This is more than mere party shenanigans, it is a corrupt DNC which is acting on its own without regard to coalition Dems. And this must stop.
I get really pissed off when I hear people who just vote D try to tell me, and the rest of us who have actually been involved with the party and done the hard work of campaigning, canvassing, and doing phone trees… to just get over it… deal with reality… Hillary is not the candidate … we don’t “get it”… it’s just politics… we need to choose the lesser of two evils.
Personally I believe the real evil is allowing a party to rule that has corrupted itself, and is the antithesis of its own platform (which was to give Dems nationwide input into the political party through voting); caucuses are an old form of political maneuvering from the dark ages, a mere step removed from when the political bosses just dictated who the candidates would be. They ignored us mostly And just expected our votes. Ordinary citizens didn’t have any input! Now we’re back to that — A full 180 degrees. Moreover, vetting of the candidates is supposed to happen before the convention, and for those coalitions with varying concerns forces the candidates to prove their worth. We had none of this during this convention.
[Anyone who doubts this should just read up on the 1932 convention.]
The second evil I see here, is the MSM using its muscle to force conventioneers (delegates and SDs) to choose the candidate it deems worthy. Their advent into this branch of politics has completely wiped out any claim they can have as a check on government. In short, they have lost their claim to the 4th estate.
So now ultimately the check on government and our political process of democracy rests upon our shoulders … we can no longer trust our party leaders.
And for that I am saddened… but I am also feeling a sense of freedom, like many of you have explicated this feeling as well.
*********************
Leslie — thanks for confirming what I’ve been trying to tell others.
Most people who really do grassworks work, like yourself, do not support Obama. He kind of mocks community work in a way by expecting us to believe that HIS trumps others. I know people who have been working in the trenches for eons, unknown and without thanks. They do it without accolades and mostly without pay. I really do not like to pass judgment on the good one does in one’s community, but I’m really curious to see a description of Obama’s job duties as community organizer et al. I’m a person who has also done “community organizing” doing voter registration drives, which really amounts to sitting at tables and walking around at various community events; I also volunteer to be a poll watcher and register people to vote on election day. But since I do it without pay, this is seems to be what differentiates my own work (and most women’s) from that of the men who seek recognition in said work.
Also, working for the public takes on very different meanings that I feel most people are ignorant of… working for the state or fed or city government, in a university or a state worker or for a nonprofit org really does not qualify as working for the public like your own examples of community work points out. Because I work for a foundation utilizing public money that doesn’t really mean I’m working for “the public.” And I feel that Obama’s being head of organizations/boards (ie Annenberg Foundation) does not qualify in the same vane as I’ve described.
It’s paid work, and paid work is a job!
thanks for hearing my rant
Do you want to keep living in the 1960’s forever ? You babyboomer women are something else.
The girls and women I know live in a different world. We like Obama, and we do not recognize any of the crappy frustrations older women like you seem to live in. The dozens of women I know kick ass.
We have a complex and endangered world to deal with and have no time for frustrations like yours.
Instead of blocking OUR progress, our dreams, our ideals, all you guys do is destroy the world around us. You must be pretty blind to not support someone like Obama, and at the same time ignore a with: anti-abortion, creationism, book banning, wolf-shooting, global warming denying Palin.
We “babyboomer women” are reality-based. Your last sentence gives you away as not being well-versed in how the media is manipulating you…
If the Democratic party is going to return to its roots and stop selling out to Republicans (which you apparently overlook), it will be because of US, not you…
If you don’t have time for frustrations like ours, what are you doing here. It must be apparent to you that you are wasting you time.
We destroy the world around us? Wow we sure are powerful for a bunch of frustrated old bats.
Take your nonsense where someone gives a darn what you think. Because, I care about progress, ideals and dreams that are meaningful to me. You worry about yours and kindly have the decency to allow me to worry about mine. That’s what REAL liberals believe is the right thing to do. That’s what REAL Democrats once believed. Obamacrats? Not so much.
I’m so sick of faux feminists telling me that I’m not a FEMINIST if I vote for McCain/Palin. Frankly, these “progressives” wouldn’t vote for a feminist when they had the chance–they were too busy supporting a sexist, who made crude comments to women about how it’s his cell phone buzzing in his pocket, he’s not getting fresh or anything” and dismissed women by calling them “sweetie!”
So, now, I think Dr. Lynnette Long has it exactly right when she asserts that feminists can vote for Gov. Palin based on gender. Because until we have a woman in the highest office in the land–regardless of her policies–we will never have the chance to further feminist issues anyway.
Axelrod’s class war, gender war and race war is the foundation of Obama’s campaign. I am repulsed by it, and watching the pathological hate coming from the Democrats and Obama supporters these days, makes me want to vomit. They have become increasingly REPULSIVE.
I had moved on; I had gotten over it. But, they couldn’t let it rest. They are repeating what they did to Sen. Clinton in an unimaginably vicious smear campaign against yet another female candidate. NO REAL FEMINIST would stand for it. I certainly won’t.
baltimoresun.com
In this election, putting gender first
By Lynette Long
September 14, 2008
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.palin14sep14,0,4638337.story
“You babyboomer women” Harold? That pretty much says it all about you, doesn’t it? You sound like a man who resents women, much like Obama. You appear to be a man who is threatened by strong women, who finds it necessary to demean and diminish in order to maintain the illusion of control over others. Much like Obama.
The problem for you, Harold, and your sexist icon, Barack Obama, is that women are supporting McCain/Palin in ever increasing numbers. It isn’t all “babyboomer” women, either; Obama continues to hemorrage support from younger women voters who are also switching to McCain/Palin.
So, your “illusion” of control is, in fact, a “delusion” you are desperately seeking to maintain by commenting on blogs. It’s sort of pathetic really. Meanwhile, out in the real world:
McCain 50%, Obama 47% for third straight day in Presidential polling:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/daily_presidential_tracking_poll
Battlegrounds: Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Minnesota, Colorado, breaking toward McCain
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/13/battlegrounds-florida-pennsylvania-breaking-for-mccain/?print=1
http://www.startribune.com:80/politics/national/president/28353589.html?elr=KArksc8P:Pc:UthPacyPE7iUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/state/article808637.ece
http://www.zogby.com/50state/
bmc, like you I think Lynette Long has it right. And I will vote accordingly.