So in the last season of “West Wing,” while the Democratic party was splintered in a divisive struggle between two contenders–one of them a long-time DC operator and the other an idealistic minority candidates–while the already decided white-haired GOP candidate, unpopular within his own party because of some of his policies waited patiently…
The President serving the second term of his presidency was busy organizing a wedding for his daughter.
PAD
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@Jerry: “We’re a thousand light years better off than we were 40 years ago and heading in the right direction, but we’re still a thousand light years from where we ultimately need to be.”
The journey of a thousand miles… or light years… begins with a single step. And then another, and another, and another… and eventually, we get there.
Jerry: “Under most circumstances I would agree with that statement. However, I do believe that if the Democratic party were to do a backroom deal at the convention and give the nod to Hillary over Obama, the clear and rightful frontrunner, that there would be a backlash by some in the party and that a large portion of the black voting block would walk out on the Democrats in 2008 and for some years to come.”
Of course there would be a backlash. It would be a completely justified backlash. What’s wrong with getting upset about a bad situation?
It’s a moot point, though. There isn’t going to be a backroom deal. Superdelegates have been steadily flowing towards Obama. So while it *would* be a bad thing if they refused to give him the nomination, it doesn’t really matter because that isn’t actually happening. So talking about the hypothetical backroom deal is essentially saying that if the country was more racist, then the country would be more racist.
You’re right in that we’re not where we need to be. But you know what? We’re not yet at the point where a *Catholic* can be elected President without some grumbling. It can happen, but there would still be some very angry people. The simple existence of racist people isn’t the litmus test for the country, it’s the degree of influence they have. So while there’s still a lot of room for growth, I’m very happy about how things are going.
Who knows, someday the idea of an Atheist in the White House may not be laughable. Not in my lifetime, but someday.
I know. Thank you. It’s a wonder Jerry felt the need to preempively attack the playing of the “race card” in the first place.
Jason M. Bryant: “It’s a moot point, though. There isn’t going to be a backroom deal. Superdelegates have been steadily flowing towards Obama.”
I know there won’t be. That’s what’s getting lost in people looking at my end of the discussion about Hillary and this games’s ultimate outcome. There won’t be a backroom deal and she has no hope of pulling off an upset win here. There are very substantial reasons for why neither of these things will happen. That’s why I can’t see why Hillary thinks that this garbage is doing her any good in the long run.
She cannot win and she will not be allowed to pull a fast one because of the damage that it would do to the party. The only thing she could be hoping to do here is damage Obama enough so that he can’t win and she has another shot at the brass ring in four years. But even she can’t be so blind as to see that actions such as that would guarantee that she never sees the nomination come close to being in her grasp again.
The only thing I see here at this point is a woman who thinks she has nothing to lose and believes that she is either going to win, which ain’t happening, or believes that she is going to go down hard and try to take everybody down with her. This tactic might have worked against Edwards, but the damage that the Democratic party knows it would inflict upon itself by undercutting Obama is too great for her to pull off a backroom coup here.
Hillary has no reason to keep this up (while flushing even more of her own money down the toilet) other than wanting to destroy as many other people as possible or just being too dámņëd blind to see the political reality of the situation. Either way, that damages her career from here on out and likely ensures that she’s not getting a shot at this particular prize ever again.
Fresh, hot mulberry cobbler with fresh, homemade whipped cream and a scoop of home churned vanilla ice cream.
Jason M. Bryant: “Of course there would be a backlash. It would be a completely justified backlash. What’s wrong with getting upset about a bad situation?”
Uhm… Nothing. I never said that there was. I actually think it would be the right thing to do if the Dems were dumb enough to do something that stupid.
Again, not the point I was making and not even close to it.
We’re not yet at the point where a *Catholic* can be elected President without some grumbling.
Well, there’s always grumbling. It’s just become something that increasingly tars one as being low class when the grumbling is about the race or religion of candidate, though I was pretty surprised at how some people felt free to attack Romney on being a Mormon.
So let them grumble. Bigots are becoming marginalized. Even in the unlikely event that Obama loses the general election it will be a significant event in our history. Yeah, the Wrights of the world would use his loss to say they were right and no Black can make it in this rascist country (assuming Wright is willing to stick his head out of his million dollar home in his gated community to comment on the hopeless plight of Black people) but it’s going to ring a bit hollow. It’s really going to be hard to make that argument when Obama wins. If I were Al Sharpton, I’d be seriously worried about that. Why would anyone want to talk to him for the supposed “black perspective” on the issues of the day when the most pwerful man on earth is a black man? Where does that leave Rev. Al?
Bill Mulligan: “If I were Al Sharpton, I’d be seriously worried about that.”
Yeah, no kidding.
~8?)
And you know he just has to hate this even more since Obama is winning his party’s nod and will likely win the race itself come Nov. without getting down on his knees and kissing Sharpton’s ring.
Sharpton and Rush have a lot in common in this election. Both are be exposed for the toothless tigers that they have become with the passing of time.
The Greeks thought that mulberries stained your hands red to commemorate the blood of Pyramus and Thisbe, two young lovers who died under typically tragic circumstances involving a lion. Greek mythology is chock full of these stories–misunderstandings and coincidences that lead to all manner of wacky hijinks. It’s like THREE’S COMPANY, only with lions.
Yeah, if by playing the race card waaaaaaay too often, what you really mean is nnnooot oooffftennn aaat aaallll. Thank you for the lesson on how someone can express an authentic notion of decency by backpeddling, Jerry.