Betrayal? If We Lose This Fall, We Betray the Troops, the Poor, the Working Class and the World

I. You Don't Want to See Me Blow a Gasket

If I read one more person describe how personally betrayed he or she is that our presumptive Democratic nominee has not 1) crushed a flag lapel pin beneath his heel to show solidarity with our troops or 2) draped his naked torso with a copy of the U.S. Constitution and marched on the White House in protest FISA or 3) bitch slapped Bill Clinton for being a member of the DLC I am going to blow a gasket.

You didn’t know that housewives from Texas come equipped with gaskets, did you? We have them for emergencies. They double as bullshit detectors, because there are so many cows around here, and cows drop patties. Bovines are not the only things that crap in their own nests. Some Democrats do, too.

This journal started out as a follow up of something I wrote yesterday about the guys and gals in the corporate press and their tendency to embellish the facts called “Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My!”

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/McCamy%20Tayl...

Then, I read this bit of oppo from Cal Thomas, the guy who uses a chainsaw where a scalpel would be more effective.

http://www.star-telegram.com/245/story/735930.html

In keeping with his "messiah" image, Barack Obama might have been more at home in Bethlehem, Pa., than in Unity, N.H., when he and his "former" nemesis, Hillary Clinton, opened their new act on the road to mixed reviews.

We are supposed to forget everything they said about each other during the primaries. They didn’t really mean it; or did they? This is why so many people are cynical about politicians. You never know if they are telling you what you want to hear, or what they hope you’ll swallow in spite of evidence to the contrary.

Cal Thomas is a very bad writer. How else can you explain the use of the words Obama, messiah, Bethlehem and Unity in the opening paragraph of an article that is supposed to be anti-Obama propaganda? Put them all together and they conjure up this image.

Especially in the minds of the kind of right wing religious zealots that Cal Thomas targets. The rest of the article is silly. I only mention it, because it shows that Sen. Barack Obama is really getting under the GOP’s skin with his recent campaign tactics. This was supposed to be the divided and conquered Democratic Party, with Obama playing McGovern and Clinton playing Humphrey and the Party playing Loser. Guess Rush and Karl and all those folks forgot that Hillary and Bill worked for George McGovern back in 1972. Problem is, if you stage Hamlet as if the principle characters have already seen the way that it turns out the first time, the second time through you will have a different outcome.

In 1972, after allowing the Republicans to divide the Democrats (mistake one), McGovern then allowed them to define who he was (mistake two). Bob Novak did this more than anyone else through the line Abortion, Acid and Amnesty .

Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton were quick to repair the rift within the Democratic Party, proving that they had learned the lesson of history from 1972. And now, Sen. Obama is showing that he has learned another important lesson. He is not going to give the opposition a chance to define his character. No “Gore is a liar” or “Kerry is a waffler” for him. And definitely no “Abortion, acid and amnesty” or, in this case “Inexperienced, Unpatriotic Muslim”.

Stage two of defeating CREEP 2008 is all about letting Americans know whom the Senator is. Read Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 again, some of the later chapters and recall the frustration of the McGovern camp, as the public began to accept a false image of the nominee as hopelessly out of touch with the needs and concerns of the average American. And then ask yourself why you think that you have a right to demand personal satisfaction from a candidate who will have to win the approval from a majority of the electorate.

II. Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow

In my last journal, I mentioned the Wizard of Oz . This gives an easy way to remember the three tasks which Sen. Obama has before him in this second stage of the presidential campaign, before the convention. Like the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man, he must demonstrate to the world that he has acquired three noble virtues which are necessary for leadership. He has two months left to do this. The right wing will spend these two months attempting to convince Americans that he does not have these virtues. They are

Obama is love

He already has this one in the bag, thanks to Sen. Hillary Clinton. Women are so wonderful. When was the last time that a male presidential candidate locked in a fierce primary battle immediately became his winning opponent’s best cheerleader? This is one of the benefits of having half of the population trained since infancy to be noncompetitive and nurturing. And Barack Obama has been wonderful, too, winning the support of a wide range of Democrats across the country. If Bill Clinton follows suit, then Obama should be able to convince America that he can solve any crisis diplomatically, the way that he was able to solve the crisis within his own party.

I used to think that the Obama-Clinton ticket was the ideal one. Now I am not so sure, With Sen. Kennedy’s recent illness, the Senate can not afford to lose another high profile Democrat. Clinton will probably be a Senator for another twenty years if she does not run for Vice President. And if she and Bill campaign for Obama, even though she is not his running mate, it makes their endorsement that much more sincere.

Obama is courage

This is another way of saying Obama is patriotic, except that it is sometimes harder to be courageous than to be patriotic. Courage means taking a stand on an issue that you really do support, even though you know that you will get flak for it. Like the issue of partnering with churches to deliver social services. Black folks know that this is not necessarily a reactionary idea. In Fort Worth, where I live, there is an unusually high rate of infant mortality, especially among African-Americans. Catholic Charities has been generous in helping with research and public awareness. Then there is this program

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/article_index/ar...

"Spirituality and the church is so important in the black community," said LaToya Lewis, director of prematurity initiatives for the March of Dimes in Fort Worth. "We developed this faith-based model, but March of Dimes does not have all the answers, so we are reaching out to people in the community to help us."
The pilot program, for now called Honey Child, is starting in one church in southeast Fort Worth and one in Tyler, cities chosen because of their high numbers of premature and severely underweight African-American babies.
For decades, Tarrant County has had higher infant mortality rates than Texas' other urban areas. The problem is worst, both locally and nationwide, among African-Americans, whose rates are often twice those of Hispanics and Anglos.
The concept of Honey Child is simple -- use a woman from the church, trained by March of Dimes, to help instruct pregnant women on the importance of doctor visits, nutrition, stress relief, self-esteem and other topics.

Looking back at a Pew Poll from 2001, minority groups, Blacks and Latinos were more likely to support government funding of faith based programs even then.

http://people-press.org/report/?pageid=112

Fully 81% of blacks and Hispanics support the proposal, compared to 68% of whites. In addition, there is a significant generation gap. Americans under age 50 are more supportive of the proposal than are those age 50 and older (76% vs. 60% in favor).
Snip
Looking at the major religious groups and denominations, black Protestants stand out as the strongest backers of the proposal. More than eight-in-ten (81%) support the idea of government funding for faith-based social service programs and nearly half (46%) are strongly supportive. This enthusiasm is equally high among black evangelical and mainline Protestants.
This contrasts with the differences among white Protestants on this issue. More white evangelical Protestants support government funding for faith-based programs (73% vs. 63%). And far more white evangelicals are committed to the idea -- 35% strongly support it vs. 21% of white mainline Protestants.
Catholics are also strong supporters of faith-based funding. Three-quarters of all Catholics (74%) favor government funding for faith-based programs, with 34% of highly committed Catholics strongly in favor.

If you consider that some minority groups have good reason to be leery of government programs, partnering with local churches can decrease resistance to new public health initiatives and it can empower people, which also makes a project more likely to succeed. Those who claim that all religious groups will consider it their duty to attempt to indoctrinate those that they serve reveal their basic ignorance of religion. There are a number of religions that never proselytize, such as Hindus and Jews. And even among those which accept converts, such as Christians and Buddhists, many practice good works for their own sake, not to force conversions.

Here is the friendly opposition:

http://www.au.org/site/News2?abbr=pr&page=NewsArticle&i...

However, Lynn said he was pleased to hear Obama express support for church-state separation and say that he would bar government-funded proselytism and religious discrimination in hiring when tax dollars are involved.

The main problem with the current Bush program is that it has been used mostly as a get rich quick scheme for phony social programs and as a way to buy the endorsements of religious leaders. Churches make excellent community partners for public health and social programs if they are held to the same accountability standards as any other organization, and they should not be excluded because some Democrats have an abnormal fear of some religious sects. It is results that count. If people who have been marginalized by society are more likely to benefit from a new public health initiative because it is administered through their church than through a government office, then maybe we should try it through their church.

Obama is wisdom

This ought to be the easiest one of all. Just show the public John McCain confusing Sunni with Shia, and then contrast him with Barack Obama, and I think that Americans will have no trouble deciding which of the two candidates is mentally better equipped for the job.

However, there are more subtle kinds of intelligence. Obama showed the wisdom of Athena when he declined to followed Wesley Clark into the mine field. Here, in case you have forgotten, is a journal I wrote way back in February: A Democratic Starter Guide to Showing the Voters that John McCain Has No Clothes
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Here is the most important part of what I wrote way back then.

First, a few ground rules. John McCain is a war hero . Therefore, he should never he attacked on character issues. That means no John McCain is a Waffler even though he is. No John McCain is old though he is. Instead, refer to actions, statements, concrete facts, and use language which is as precise and as clinical as possible. Try to start out with John McCain is a respected war hero who did a great service for his country, but ….

Now, Wesley Clark did not say anything that was not true. However, what the press did to Clark should serve as a warning to all Democrats that when I wrote this back in February, I really meant it. . And I meant this part, too.

Never ever suggest that he is shell shocked, suffering from PTSD or is in any other way impaired from being a Vietnam War Veteran and POW. Bush got a free ride from the press when he did it. Democrats will be crucified if they even mention this. Be aware that Karl Rove and Co. may go online at DU and other sites posing as Democrats trying to start threads in which they talk about these issues in an ugly way in order to get other Dems to do the same. Don’t go there! Instead, challenge these posters . Declare them to be the Republican agitators that they are. Remember that the protester who suggest breaking the law is always the undercover police officer.

I learned a long time ago that people follow doctors orders more reliably if they know why they are being asked to do something, so here is the why: The press loves a good story. Most of the time, they have to write about sleaze balls and scumbags when they are covering the political beat. So, when they get to write about an honest to god war hero it makes their day. That makes them fiercely protective---of their good story . And so they will hate anyone who ever tries to change the story. That means that any Democrat who tries to say something that could be construed as John McCain is not a war hero or he is taking advantage of the years he spent as a POW to get something he does not deserve is going to get swatted down with the world's biggest fly swatter.

Remember, both Chris Matthews and George Will have told us that the press corp is John McCain's base.

Obama is not going to win this election by tearing down McCain. He will win it by offering the nation’s reporters a story that tops the POW experience. First African-American president, product of a broken home, able to win over his political enemies with his charm and intelligence, able to unite people from the left and the right, able to overcome any setback by appealing to the voters---

McCain is going to deconstruct McCain. He will “misspeak” so often that it will become apparent that he is no longer mentally fit to be president. He will flip flop so many times that it will be impossible to know whether he is coming or going. He will reveal his temper without any provocation from his opponent. He will allow his surrogates to bring up the issue of race----!

And Obama will praise him as the hero he once was, because Obama is a very smart man.

III. One More Word About Cal Thomas

I am not sure that even Cal Thomas could be that bad a writer. I think maybe that Barack Obama's good story is getting so fixed in the psyche of the nation's journalists that Thomas could not help himself and that was why his opening paragraph blew the effect of the rest of his article. Just a thought.

Good stuff K&R	Egnever	Jul-02-08 08:14 PM	#1
Sorry, but the ENTIRE COUNTRY & PLANET has already been betrayed by the DO NOTHING Congress.	TheGoldenRule	Jul-02-08 11:07 PM	#2
Eight years? Try sixteen months. Before that Dems controlled the Senate for two years	McCamy Taylor	Jul-02-08 11:29 PM	#3
Of course we will unite come Nov.	cyclezealot	Jul-03-08 08:23 AM	#5
We Democrats have this election in the bag. Republicans can only win through subterfuge	Doug.Goodall	Jul-03-08 08:08 AM	#4
Obama may be love but McAnus is OUR SAVIOR.	bertman	Jul-03-08 08:27 AM	#6
Covers it ALL	rucognizant	Jul-03-08 08:41 AM	#8
Exactly!	RichGirl	Jul-03-08 08:34 AM	#7