If Hillary Clinton’s goal was to get some ink in saying that the Senate was like a plantation, then it was a really smart thing to say. If, on the other hand, she was trying to draw a remotely accurate metaphor, I don’t think that was the way to go.
Her representatives have tried to justify it by saying that the Senate is being run by the Bossman and opposing views are stifled. Yeah, okay, but that also describes any number of corporations. No one is in the Congress or Senate against their will, no one is being beaten, and no one is being hunted down if they leave. There’s just way too much baggage attached to the concept of plantations to try and pare it down to, “Our attempts to present our views are being stifled.” I mean, she could just as easily address the UJA and say the Senate is like a concentration camp, and it would be just as questionable.
If she’d wanted to be clever, she could have said, “I’m not saying the Senate is like, say, a plantation. Not at all. I mean, yes, Democrats are being given no more respect by Republicans than the Bossman gave his workers, and we have about as much input into the way things are being done. And it can be certainly stated that the Senate is giving little to no attention to the needs of its black constituents. But it’s definitely NOT like a plantation…yet.” That makes it slightly harded for critics to come back and say, “So you’re saying the Senate is like a plantation?!” to which she replies, “Uh, no, I said it isn’t like one. Are you reading impaired?”
Now the Mayor of New Orleans, on the other hand…what the hëll is up with THAT guy? I mean, geez, if the mayor of a mostly white city that had been wiped out by a tornado said it was punishment from God because they’d let blacks in, and this was a message that it should be exclusively a white city, the guy would be hung out to dry. So what’s this “New Orleans needs to be chocolate again.” Okay, yeah, he’s been under some stress, but holy crap. I have to think there’s plenty of black constituents who have–if nothing else–made plenty of money off white tourists who are saying, “Shut the hëll up!”
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Romney has Mormon “baggage” in the same way John F. Kennedy had Catholic “baggage.”
If you go back and re-read contemporary discussions about the 1960 presidential race, JFK’s religion was a huge issue. Today, such a controversy over a candidate’s Catholicism is hard to imagine. However, JFK’s charisma and poise on TV helped sway many undecideds, and he won a nail-biter of a race against Nixon (a Quaker).
McCain seems like a good person, and he has great qualifications, but his unpredictability will scare too many people away, I believe.
Den, international diplomacy is full of dilemmas, especially for a country such as the US. It’s a dámņëd if you do dámņëd if you don’t kind of situation most of the times. The answers are usually not as easy as rightist or leftists present it. And the solutions offered by both right and left, US and Europe, are not very satisfying.
I don’t know what the right course of action for Pakistan may be. Presumably war is not a good option. Cooling down the relationship with it might make things even more difficult for the US considering its involvement in Afganistan, and the threat of even further strengthening of the Islamistic forces. /but an alliance means tolerating a dictatorship, which is probably involved in terrorism in Kashmir, and that is a center for Muslim extremism. However, it would seem that its involvement in selling nuclear weapons, in terrorism, and in support of the Talliban actualy stopped after 9/11. In any case, it is a tough choice to say the least.
I dislike France as much as the next guy (France is really not popular with Israelis), but they are mostly harmless.
Now, I may be going out on a limb here, but I think Obama’s relative youth, telegenicity (sp?), and the fact that he doesn’t seem as steeped in senatorial bullcrap as many others could be definite assets as running mate to the right candidate, getting him in the White House so he can come out strong with his own presidential bid in 8 (ideally) years.
-Rex Hondo-
McCain seems to drive some republicans into a tizzy–they give the same kind of crazy “I’d rather vote for Hillary and the reanimated corpse of Lenin than vote for McCain!” response
When did you meet my mom?