Reverend Michael Pfleger Is Out Of Line On Hillary

The promise of a Barack Obama presidency is not that white people have been ruling and now black people are going to take over, the promise is that any person born in this country can grow up and aspire to be president, black, white, man, woman, anyone. A Barack Obama presidency is going to be a milestone for blacks, but it is also going to be a milestone for whites. Racism is not healthy for either side.

It has been my personal experience in New York City that the vast majority of people who support Barack just so happen to be white. These are not self-flagellating whites, or whites who lack confidence, or guilty whites, or white people who hate white people. These white people, their motives are positive and about the future. They are not supporting Barack because he is black, but because he is the best candidate. He inspires. He promises a future that these white people want to relate to. And they are not supporting Barack as white people, or they would be hostile to me when I show up for meetings, and they have not been so.

There is an understanding that this is not about race. This is a job application and Barack is applying. May the best, most qualified candidate win.

Hillary's tears in New Hampshire were not an act of racism. How ridiculous to suggest they were? (Hillary Cried, Women Responded, She Won) If she had lost in New Hampshire, this fight would have been over by February 5. That would have been total humiliation to Hillary, who she is, what her qualities are in terms of brain and heart, what she has already done, what she means to the women of America and the world. She was under enormous personal stress, and she cried. When I am under stress, I cry, what about you?

I have been one of those who has not been happy that I have had to choose between Barack and Hillary. If Barack had not run, I would have been as fanatically behind Hillary and I am on record saying so in real time. But I have tried to stay positive. (Switching To Obama)

Then I decided my first choice was a Barack-Hillary ticket, and my second choice was a Hillary-Barack ticket. And I thought we were headed towards a Barack-Hillary ticket and we still might be, but Hillary's Bobby Kennedy remark shook me. (Hillary's Bobby Kennedy Comment: Bitter Heart, Bad Taste)

We Can Put Hillary On The Ticket, But What Are We Going To Do With Bill Clinton?

The idea of the first woman president is the idea of taking gender relations in this country and across the world to new heights. The focus has to be on that gender agenda. You respect the democratic result and you realize you lost and then you go for the second best option: how to meld the gender agenda into a Barack presidency.

I am willing to give Hillary the benefit of doubt. All I know about her from before tells me she just meant to refer to the timeline. Bobby Kennedy was still campaigning in June. Don't push me over, don't ask me to quit. (But, Hillary, Quit)

When Barack Obama was running for the US Senate, Hillary once fought bad weather to fly over to make a campaign appearance for him. After Barack got elected, like Ted Kennedy, she showed him the ropes. Hillary is not my idea of a racist person. Besides, I personally know too many sexist and super sexist minority males to get too hard on Hillary.

The Barack loyalist in me says keep your running mate options open, the Hillary admirer in me says it is Hillary or it is nobody. It is not just about putting any random woman on the ticket. Hillary was the woman who got crucified in the 1990s. Hillary has been the woman who has embodied the aspirations of many women in 2008. It is Hillary or it is nobody.

Women have to express their feelings. And after they do that, they come around. Hillary and her supporters are understandably frustrated. They are having to face an outcome that they did not want, they did not foresee, they are refusing to face, and that denial is going to be a brief phase whose reality we are going to have to accept. I can understand that. I doubt I would have been any less frustrated if Barack had been the one who had lost the nomination battle. So we have to allow for the period of mourning. Then we have to allow for a period of healing. Then step three would be melding. We bring the party together. We make all the Hillary supporters feel this was no defeat. Barack's victory is theirs to share. We march ahead together.

Let's face it, race and gender are extremely volatile issues to talk about. We should be ready for more emotional, incendiary outbursts by more people. We can't get overly defensive when those outbursts take place. To get too defensive is to snuff out discussion on race and gender, and that is not a welcome attitude. We should encourage conversations on race and gender. We should not try to snuff out the emotional outbursts. Instead we should channelize. Those of us who think we can do better when talking about race and gender need to step out, step up, speak out, take charge.

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In The News

Democrats Push For Quick End To Nomination Battle Yahoo "By this time next week, it will all be over, give or take a day," Reid said Thursday. ..... Obama picked up two more superdelegates Friday, bringing him within 42 delegates of clinching the nomination ..... leads Clinton by 200 delegates. .... Obama stands to gain a minimum of roughly 20 delegates in the three remaining primaries .... even if he loses all three. ...... Obama's campaign is willing to give Clinton the major share of delegates from Florida and Michigan .... Nationally, Obama has developed a clear lead over Clinton — 54 percent to 41 percent
Obama rejects pastor in latest Church flap AFP
On Policy, Obama Breaks Little New Ground at The Washington Post
Obama used party rules to foil Clinton AP
Obama distances himself from another clergyman AP
Condi Rice enlists in Kiss Army AP

NASA Spacecraft Appears to Have Landed on Mars New York Times
Clinton speaks of faith in face of adversity The Associated Press just 51 delegates short of the 2,026 needed to clinch the nomination. ....... "I was making the simple point that given our history, the length of this year's primary contest is nothing unusual," Clinton wrote. "But I was deeply dismayed and disturbed that my comment would be construed in a way that flies in the face of everything I stand for — and for everything I am fighting for in this election."
Hillary's Latest Delusion: It's Obama's Fault Houston Chronicle blamed the Obama campaign for Hillary’s remarks about Bobby Kennedy ...... "She was making a point merely about the time line." ....... "If Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doesn't find offense to it, why is it that everybody else should?"
Clinton Camp Stokes RFK Flap by Blaming Obama Washington Post The Obama campaign, meanwhile, delivered a strong signal that it expects the nomination contest to wrap up in the next 10 days, after the final primaries. ....... Axelrod acknowledged, "There's an enormous amount of pride and investment in Senator Clinton among millions of women across this country" ........ a unity ticket
McCain Hosts Three Possible Running Mates Washington Post
Obama Stands In for Kennedy at Wesleyan New York Times
Michelle Obama is fair game Boston Globe
Clinton struggles to quell Kennedy furore Independent "Some took my comments entirely out of context and interpreted them to mean something completely different – and completely unthinkable," she wrote in a front-page commentary in The New York Daily News. "I want to set the record straight: I was making the simple point that given our history, the length of this year's primary contest is nothing unusual." ........ Charles Rangel, the New York congressman and a Clinton supporter, said that she had said "the dumbest thing you could have possibly said". ......... Mr Obama himself said Mrs Clinton had made an understandable mistake. "When you are campaigning for as many months as Senator Clinton and I have ...sometimes you get careless," he said. "I think that is what happened here." The son of the murdered Kennedy, Robert Kennedy Jnr, said he had not taken offence.
Clinton Soaks Up Warmth in Puerto Rico New York Times
Obama Reminds Grads What They Can Do for Country Washington Post