I posted yesterday on one of those enormous threads (A disturbing conversation with a Clinton supporter)...and got an illuminating reply...to which I also replied...
I think it is worth broadcasting some of the conversation here..not only because I am enamored with my own posts...but because the issue of Democrats uniting in the fall is such an important one.
Here is where the back and forth began:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
My main point in the first post was that absolute certainty is dangerous...and I see it here mostly with regard to the demonic qualities of Clinton. I mentioned George Soros whose success in the markets he attributes to something like this philosophy...
acting on it made him billions...in a nutshell his philosophy...'if you think you are 100% right..watch out...you are about to get a lesson'
I think much of the criticism of Clinton...particularly on those issues that there seems to be the most unanimity of opinion here..is misguided.
I received a reply to my comment stating as part of the argument that
Then came Ferraro, who is an out and out bigot.
This is a wonderful example of my point:
The balance of this diary [the italicized parts] follows my post on the previous thread.
With regard to Ferraro...another of those overblown issues...Are you 100% sure she is an out and out bigot?
http://www.dailyhowler.com/...
unless you read the howler regularly some aspects of his style may baffle you but his point should be clear.
More straightforward...here is a quote from a Tribune article that is posted on Obama's own Senate website.
Obama acknowledges, with no small irony, that he benefits from his race.
If he were white, he once bluntly noted, he would simply be one of nine freshmen senators, almost certainly without a multimillion-dollar book deal and a shred of celebrity.
http://obama.senate.gov/...
The respondent also contrasts McCain's honorable response to Wright's comments with those of Clinton. But I don't think this is extremely compelling noting that:
With regard to Mcain/Wright It is easy for McCain to act honorably...one might argue that Bush also acted almost 'honorably' (I had trouble typing that...) during the whole Swift Boat nonsense. McCain won't have to do anything to make this an issue.
...this just in.. as partial confirmation...
[link is below when I quote Obama's recent interview]
"If you talk to McCain's people about it, they are -- choose your metaphor -- licking their chops," he said. "They believe that if this does not derail his chances of becoming the Democratic nominee, it will be invaluable to them in gaining support among key constituencies -- that's code for white voters -- in the general election."
Back to Ferraro for a second...and a comment on the Obama speech...this is from the breeze where Ferraro's comments appeared...
Obama appeared to allude to Ferraro once more when he said that it would be wrong to "pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she's playing the race card."
but....
It was Obama's campaign that drew the most attention to Ferraro's remark last week and suggested it fit with a pattern of racial comments by Clinton surrogates.
I clipped a little here...LBJ/MLK etc..blown out of proportion...
Did hillary go overboard in saying "He would not have been my pastor," Seems like not much to get irate about unless preconceptions provide a filter for the remarks...in fact as reported today...Obama says pretty much the same thing...
"Had the reverend not retired and had he not acknowledged that what he had said had deeply offended people and were inappropriate and mischaracterized what I believe is the greatness of this country, for all its flaws, then I wouldn't have felt comfortable staying there at the church," the senator said.
http://www.cnn.com/...
...'I wouldn't have felt comfortable staying at the church'....! Does that mean 'he would not have been my pastor'
Picking up on the right wing memes...on the media misogyny and hyperbole...plus the continued statements by Obama supporters that they would never vote for hillary (leave the country, vote for Nader; I doubt many or any here at DKos would turn to McCain) causes people who can step back from the fracas a bit to wonder about the fairness and rationality of some of Obama's supporters.
In my first post I raised a hypotheses regarding why the current state of affairs has taken this shape...I noted that it might get me troll/hide rated...but still wonder.
Will Obama win in the general?..I certainly hope so...but I think there is a strong element of preemptive scapegoating in what I see here...just in case...