In the best possible ways.

Go read Legitimacy or Unity (and BTW- I actually knew the Machiavelli stuff, but the Rousseau stuff is new to me)

ETA: Hey I said sort of the same thing here. And I also said it to the Kid, who then went and said it to his social studies teacher. Who didn’t get the point. Sad really the a 13 year old boy can understand that democracy needs opposition but a 40 something teacher of US History and government does not.

Hey Soopermouse- this one’s for you, you gypsy goddess

Via Riverdaughter

I can’t embed CNN’s videos- so you all are gonna have to be old fashioned about and click this link.

The question of the day is- Should Hillary reject the votes of racists?

I dunno- Should Obama reject the votes of sexists? Should Kos and the Obamabots have their votes disenfranchised because of the raging sexism? Has Obama been called on to denounce the sexism of himself (other than an apology for his “sweetie” moment”)his campaign, and his blogger boyz?

Nope.

I don’t think I’ve heard a single Hillary supporter say that Obama should ignore say all the white male votes in Oregon (Oh I am way too familiar with the particular Northwest form of misogyny- it’s the “But I can’t be a sexist cause I’m a democrat- BITCH!” form).

Because a vote is a vote is a vote. Racists get to vote, sexists get to vote, southerners get to vote, northerners get to vote.

So Obama can’t win working class white votes. He can’t win southern white votes. Why might that be?

Partly it might be racism- but let’s go back to that practical privilege idea I keep talking about. Poor, working class whites are much more likely to be in regular contact with poor, working class AAs. In that situation, AAs become their direct competition for jobs and being on the thin edge of the poverty line makes it difficult enough. They don’t have room for competition. Losing a job means homelessness and hunger. One of the ways the elites keeps their power is by keeping the poor fighting each other in groups. Hello Obama! Riling up the poor whites been working for you as an election strategy so far? Huhmm?

So Obama could have gone a long way towards making ALL working class people; black, white, yellow, brown, feel more secure. He could have offered up an economic plan for creating more middle class jobs. He could offer up a real health care plan. But instead of giving people the impression that he wants to increase opportunities for everyone, he gives fuzzy visions of hope and unity. But neither of those things put bread on the table. And to scared, working class and poor whites, unity sounds a whole lot like they are about to be screwed. To them, Obama’s vision of unity means another round of pushing one group of poor people ahead at the expense of another group of poor people. They’ve seen that before, it’s part of the reason why they loathe affirmative action. (Note that I am pro affirmative action- I am explaining a mindset folks)

Hillary actually has the background in creating opportunities for every race at the bottom of the ladder. We know it. Before Obama, the Clintons were dearly beloved by both poor AAs and poor whites. Both Bill and Hillary understand that the only way to overcome racism in this country is by increasing opportunities for everyone.

I don’t fault AAs for voting for Obama (duh! First truly viable black candidate. They should vote for him if that’s what they want) but it is up to Obama to make himself viable to the entire country, even to voters he personally detests. That means working class whites. That means Latinos. That means middle aged (and younger- hello!) women who think sweetie is condescending and would rather have more bodily autonomy than “some”.

And he has failed.

Miserably.

So when they say Hillary should reject the votes of racists, they mean that they want to cut off poor white southerners from the voting process. That is a mistake not just for the party- who will create a permanent Republican majority by ignoring such a huge voting block, but for the advancement of our country as a whole. We will never get past racism as long as it’s a black or white question. We will only get past racism when it’s a black AND white solution.

Especially for the WWTSBQA (Why won’t the stupid bitch quit already) club.

Hillary leads in the popular vote and after Kentucky’s win tonight it will be a decided lead. She also tromps, tramples and smashed in electoral votes- you know, the ones that will count in November when we go up against McCain.

She also doesn’t turn into a big whiny baby like Obama does when he realizes that Ahmygawd- politics is rough and dirty. (Does anyone else have a younger sibling? Does Obama remind you of that younger sibling when they would start a fight by say smacking you in the head and then yell for mama when you retaliated? Cause that’s what he reminds me of).

Remember kids, come November it’s the map not the math.

Go vote.

And BTW Oregonians, a good friend has made a promise that should you pick Hillary as the winner, she will give up cheese and start believing in god. While I think giving up cheese is taking things too far (dear gawd, what’s next? Sex and booze?) you have the power to save her immortal soul.

Not to mention you can save the heart and soul of our party and our country with a vote for Hilary.

Think about it.