Peace Offerings

I went back to Huffington Post this morning and made a posting. Just one. But it got a "HuffPost's Pick" award, so I guess I'll share it. The comment was made to the lead article, written by Arianna Huffington herself, as a peace offering to the much-abused Hillary Clinton, titled Hillary Clinton's Defeat: A Historic Triumph. By far the bulk of the posted comments were still highly critical of Mrs. Clinton, and that's just the honest truth of the feelings about her and the way that she's run her campaign. I've been concerned, as I mentioned yesterday, that in trying too hard to accommodate both sides, we would shy away from the intellectual honesty we need to retain or run the risk of alliances that turn out to be all too fragile. Since the comments were not being censored, I saw that the truth was still coming out, so I took the opportunity to list what I think are her strongest qualities. Please keep in mind there's a great deal that I've left unsaid, but you can scan through the other comments to see what I mean. Here then is my own little homage to Hillary's good side:

I'm glad the posters have been allowed to express themselves. I appreciate Ms. Huffington's post, but I was concerned that we still need to be honest. With much of the dirty laundry already aired, I feel like I have the luxury of focusing on what I too find to be positive about Hillary Clinton.

Although her name recognition accrues from the former president, Hillary Clinton proved beyond a doubt that she belongs in the rarefied atmosphere of presidential politics. Her knowledge of policies and issues is sweeping and detailed, and her command of the material is second to none. She is forceful and direct in debates, clear and convincing, and her responses have the authority and confidence of a leader. She is, as Senator Obama himself proclaims her, "formidable". Far more than an impressive woman, she is an imposing person. She successfully transcended gender in terms of her suitability as the nation's leader in the overwhelming majority of voters' minds. For all the criticisms aimed her way, no one I've heard has ever implied she does not possess absolutely superior skills to bring to the job. For these things, Hillary Clinton has sharpened the imprint in our minds that gender prejudice has no place in politics or society.

You have to look at everything if you're going to be honest, the good and the bad. But I think that Hillary and her supporters can clearly take pride in the things that I've mentioned here, and much more, I'm certain.

Another item of note is the endorsement of Senator Obama by none other than Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV). The 90-year-old Senator from the state of my birth has had quite a history, including a brief membership in the Ku Klux Klan in his youth. It's a shame he didn't endorse before Obama's embarrassing defeat in West Virginia, but it may have some effect in tomorrow's primary in the neighboring state of Kentucky. When Senator Byrd tells Appalachia that Obama is "a noble-hearted patriot and humble Christian", that has a chance of getting even the most narrow-minded voters to sit up and listen.

Resistance Is Futile

Barack Obama speaking to an estimated 75,000 people in Portland, OR May 18

What a reception for Barack Obama in Portland, Oregon! If ever there was an appropriate time to use the hackneyed phrase "a sea of humanity", this is it. I know the Ohio State-Michigan game would draw more fans, but this is to hear someone give a speech. That makes this special.

Hello again. It's been quite some time since I last posted. I've been meaning to get back to this blog again, and I'm not sure we can take this as much indication that I've been successful, but it's a start. We'll have to see how it goes from here. For the past two or three months, most of my internet time has been monopolized by the web site called Huffington Post. Since I still can't get around much, I've taken to the liberal blog sites to battle the storm of misinformation that has been raging around the first serious African-American candidate for the President of the United States. It saddens me terribly to see how many people are willing to recklessly propagate so many lies and misrepresentations about one individual, and unless you've been living under a rock for the past few months, I'm sure I'm not telling you a thing. Obama has gone from Muslim to Liberation Theologist to elitist snob, and back again, and all of this is nothing but vicious smears. For example, the other day one of the posters -- undoubtedly of the species we commonly refer to as a troll -- presented the following phrase as a "quote" from Obama's recent book The Audacity Of Hope: "I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction." Whoa Nellie! That's a strange thing for a presidential candidate to say, I have to admit. Sounds like Obama's taking sides against the Christians, doesn't it? Worse yet, I did a Google search on the phrase "I will stand with the Muslims" and got around 20,000 hits, many of them pointing to conservative web sites or blogs. Looks like Obama's secret is out!

Except, of course, that I read the book. The quote is, as you might expect, a misquote, and the context is horribly skewed. The phrase in question occurs on page 261, and the context is actually a discussion about immigration and immigrants. He wrote about speaking to immigrant audiences during campaigns and other occasions, and he noted the special problems some immigrants face in the current climate:

In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detention and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific assurances that their citizenship really means something, that Americans have learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.

Quite a difference from the explosive quote offered initially, don't you think? A little twist of a phrase, a little lifting out of context, and it's possible to destroy a man with barely an effort at all. This is the environment in which we now live and struggle to bring new meaning and hope to democracy. It isn't pretty.

This morning, I was browsing again through Huffington Post, and the topmost story was about the potential "merging" of the Obama and Clinton camps. That struck me as seeming rather arbitrary and pretentious, and I imagined how I'd feel if my candidate was holding the short end, and I was told I was being merged. I decided to write a brief comment, two or three short paragraphs that complained that such things seemed a bit artificial and catered more to the herd mentality. I recommended that Clinton supporters search their own consciences for guidance on how to proceed, and make their own judgments accordingly. The post was not anti-Clinton, nor was it demeaning or profane. I checked back once, and noticed I'd gotten several very positive responses. Then I clicked to refresh the post again, and it was gone. My independent-minded little comment had been scrubbed, lost forever in the Huffington Post bit bucket trashcan. I was ticked.

I know that Huffington Post closely moderates threads on the week-ends, and clears posts with far more regularity than during the week. But I'm still fuming about that one. I don't feel as if I've written any miniature masterpieces in my time there, but sometimes, as with this one, I actually take a little time, exert a little effort, and I have this peculiar notion that my time and effort has some value all its own that ought to be honored. I don't much like the feeling I've just wasted my time, and unfortunately, that's how I felt this morning. I also felt it was a post that needed to be written. I feel pretty strongly that some overly enthusiastic supporters have lost touch with their sense of intellectual honesty, and I think it's important to make sure we get back there, because we're going to need cool heads and strong convictions if we're going to get through these next few months and secure the win. Apparently, the Huffington moderators decided my post wasn't offered in the new "team spirit", so I've gone off for a while to retch in my private disgust.

How should I feel about what I've seen so far in this primary race? Am I looking at a glass that's half-full or half-empty? I guess I need to punt for now, and say that it's just too early. When I see a crowd like the one in Portland, I think we're looking at a new age for America, bright with hope for a safe and peaceful future. But when I reflect on what just occurred in my old stomping grounds, West Virginia, I'm very sad. When I hear the President use the occasion of Israel's 60th anniversary celebration to take a broadside shot at his political opponents back home, I'm sadder still. Even Obama's skilled and powerful response wasn't enough to completely lift my spirits. It's so strange to see how much the shade of a person's skin still helps to shape the opinions of so many in our world. Barring the success of continuing attempts to discredit the talented Senator, however, he soon will be the Democratic nominee, the first ever in America to be anything other than a white male. And no, I don't support Obama because he's a black man, but I'm pleased by the extra bonus that presents. It's his ideas, his approach, his humor and positive outlook that won me over, and if he'd looked like a clone of John Edwards or Chris Dodd I would feel the same.

For what this was worth, I think this is enough of an attempt to get back in the blogging vein. My intention -- and we know what the road to Hell is paved with -- is to make at least some little blog post every day, at least something to record what caught my eye that day, and hopefully the force of habit will take over and get this little journalized perspective back on track. I don't know if I'll go back to posting at Huffington or not; I feel like what happened today was symptomatic of larger issues. I could get my opinions off my chest just as well at DailyKos, but there's something a little more dynamic about Huffington Post when I'm not being censored; some of the comments aren't terribly smart, but some of them are, and for all the phoniness of posters pretending they're something they're not, something of a real sense of the mood of the nation sometimes comes through.

Maybe if I reserve this little blog as the place to say stuff without being censored, I can shrug off the silliness of what goes on at these web sites with more aplomb. I guess I'll just take it a day at a time.