Hillary’s Voice

(Originally posted at reclusiveleftist.com, which is the parent site for this blog. I thought I’d better post it here too so everyone will understand why we had the outage this past week. And if anybody has a few extra pennies to throw in the tip jar, that would be great, though I realize that everybody here is focusing on contributing as much as possible to Hillary.)

Dear Readers:

The worst has happened. The satellite dish is dead, gone, finished. It is an ex-satellite dish. I know I said before I was secretly hoping for that to happen so I could have the cathartic joy of blasting the thing to pieces with a shotgun, but there’s a problem. The problem is that I need a new rig to replace the old rig, and that stuff ain’t cheap.

On top of that, I’ve reached the point where I need to upgrade my hosting package to handle all the visitors to the blog. If you stopped by earlier this week you probably saw the tasteful “BANDWIDTH EXCEEDED” sign provided by my hosting service. The blog has grown immensely since I started it two years ago, and needing to buy more bandwidth is usually a very nice problem to have. Until it gets to the point where you can’t afford it.

Argus Leader endorses Clinton (War Room, Salon)
Hillary Clinton got slammed for her comments referencing RFK’s assassination, but at least she got something out of them.

Protests Planned for Rules Committee Meeting (The Caucus, New York Times)

The Democratic National Committee is bracing itself for protests outside its Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting on Saturday in Washington, where the fates of the Florida and Michigan primaries could finally be decided. Supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton are organizing to march and then gather on the street outside the panel’s meeting, scheduled for Saturday morning at a hotel in Northwest Washington. “They’re coming up on buses, they’re taking the train, they’re Metro-ing, they’re coming up with friends,” said Allida Black, a professor at George Washington University and an event organizer. “We’re trying to flood it.”… Besides their goal of pressuring the committee into counting the votes from Florida and Michigan, Mrs. Clinton’s supporters are hoping that an en masse gathering will demonstrate widespread support for her candidacy — and perhaps persuade a superdelegate or two.
Per the WomenCount PAC, “To join in this history making event, or to find out more, visit www.floridademandsrepresentation.org/ or blog.enablemyself.com.”  C-SPAN is expected to broadcast the meeting.  Three bloggers at TalkLeft will be live blogging the events.

Michigan Calls Out DNC For Its Hypocrisy On “The Rulz” (by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
Great letter from Michigan to the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee: “[A]t a press conference in Dover, New Hampshire last August 9, the New Hampshire Secretary of State indicated he was going to schedule his state’s primary before the date specified in the DNC rule, clearly defying the sequence and timing the Rules and Bylaws Committee had set… The Democratic National Committee then proceeded to selectively enforce its calendar rule…” Exactly. Call em out Michigan!! Let Donna Brazile explain that. Rulz are Rulz!!! Except when they are not.
Click through for a link to the letter.

Pelosi’s vow to ’step in’ doesn’t sit well with Clinton supporter (On Politics, USA Today)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s vow yesterday that she will “step in” to settle the Democratic presidential contest if the nominee hasn’t been determined by late June isn’t making one of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s more vocal supporters very happy.
If she steps in, she will step in IT.  Let her know what you think: americanvoices@mail.house.gov.

Obama prepares to declare victory after Tuesday primaries
WASHINGTON — Barack Obama is preparing to claim victory in the Democratic presidential nominating contest after next Tuesday’s final primaries in Montana and South Dakota.
Well, that’s certainly a transformative and uniting action.  I say, let’s have a HUGE fundraising day for Clinton on Tuesday.

Bruce Plante (thanks to Bartcop)

Will Media Report Obama Seeing Dead People in Memorial Day Audience? (Newsbusters)
The gaffes continued this holiday weekend for the media’s presidential candidate. Having mispronounced the name of the Florida city he was speaking in on Friday, as well as erred about what president was in the White House when Hugo Chavez took over Venezuela, Barack Obama talked about seeing dead people in the audience during a Memorial Day speech in Las Cruces, New Mexico… “On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes — and I see many of them in the audience here today — our sense of patriotism is particularly strong.”
Did you see this, plastered all over?  No, and in fact Real Clear Politics scrubbed the flub from its version of Obama’s remarks.  Did Keith Olbermann do a “special comment” on it?  Don’t we even remember how the media covered up for George Bush?  Click through to watch the video.

Illinois Combat Veterans: Obama Wasn’t Available To Meet With Us (by Uppity Woman at No Quarter)
Looks like Barack Obama ignored another constituency when the cameras weren’t rolling. And now Democrats will have to pay. This is why we must nominate Hillary Clinton, our only chance to beat John McCain in the fall. Below [click through to watch] is a Commercial made by a nonpartisan not for profit organization named Vets for Freedom Political Action Committee. In it, an Iraq combat veteran from Illinois discusses how he and 12 other combat veterans were unable to meet with Barack Obama. This vet wants to know why it is that Barack Obama is willing to meet with despots and terrorist leaders but not with Generals or combat veterans.

Dear Obama Superdelegates,

I want to ask you how you can continue to support Senator Obama after this latest disgraceful episode where his campaign maliciously and intentionally disseminated a vicious lie regarding Hillary’s comment about RFK in order to impugn her. Why did he feel he had the right to malign her like this, and why do you remain silent? I do not accept that he should not be held personally responsible if you hold President Bush responsible for the war in Iraq, though Bush never fired a shot. Obama has repeatedly shown a mean streak and a horrible lack of judgement that is unacceptable for a Presidential contender.

From small slights (not shaking her hand on the Senate floor, giving her the finger at a rally, members of his campaign calling her a monster) to outright slander (RFK, Dr King/Johnson remarks), Obama is not someone I can respect or would want to have the responsibility of steering our great nation.

For the Obama campaign to e-mail the national press corps and insinuate that Hillary’s statement was sinister is a new low.

Obama has repeatedly behaved in an unprincipled manner:

* He worked to disallow a new election in Florida and Michigan
“The Obama people are blocking it in the Legislature”

* He refused to debate Hillary
“At Home in Midwest, Obama Explains Why He Refused Debate Challenge”

Please Editorial Board of the Argus Leader,

You were there. You are journalists. You have a first person account. You know Hillary Clinton’s context was the schedule, and how she has been pressured to drop out when nominating fights historically have not only gone to the convention in August, meaning that there was active campaigning until June, but have produced Democratic Presidents:

Woodrow Wilson was nominated in 1912 on the 146th ballot.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated in 1932 after 4 ballots.

I beg you, because you hold the truth paramount, please stand up for Hillary Clinton. You were able to see first hand how the Obama campaign has hand-fed reporters vicious lies, which unfortunately the complicit media has just repeated and disseminated widely, in order to win the nomination. This manipulation of the media is the reason Obama is slightly ahead of Hillary, but she is still competitive in spite of being outspent (Hillary supporters are working class, while Obama’s are elite Liberals with more disposable income), in spite of heavyweights like most of the Kennedy family, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Richardson, and Tom Daschle supporting Obama, and in spite of the sexism that exists in our culture. Why is Hillary so close to the nomination still? The reasons are that she is the stronger, more knowledgeable, more experienced, more dedicated, smarter, harder-working candidate. When voters have a chance to hear Hillary Clinton, like in the debates, which Obama now refuses to participate in, voters choose Hillary. Her intelligence comes through loud and clear, and Obama’s inexperience and unpreparedness for the awesome job of the Presidency comes through as well. That is why Obama refuses to debate Hillary, thereby depriving voters of the opportunity to get to know her while his campaign disseminates vicious lies against her to make her out to be a monster.

Hillary invokes a historical fact: country raises an uproar.

VIDEO

1) Reporters REPEAT What the Obama Campaign SAY Hillary MEANT

2) The Public Easily Buys That a Woman Must be Evil (Eve) and Has Sinister Motives (sexism)

3) The Obama Campaign Fans the Flames Keeping the Story on Top: Cycle Repeats

General elections for President of the United States have been held since 1945 in November.

The point about Hillary’s RFK/JUNE reference, and her accurate statement that nomination fights have gone to the convention in AUGUST is that these months are close to NOVEMBER. Her point is that even if considered relatively “late” by people who want to force her out, August still leaves her time to win the general, and June has been a time of active campaigning, which is what she is doing in spite of the Obama campaign and his media enablers calling the race over.

Permanent link to MTA daily media news

OVERKILL (by Taylor Marsh)

Sense the glee. It reveals the desperation. This is it. Now she’s done it! This may be our last chance! Let’s take her down. Now. What this obvious over-reaction to Hillary’s RFK statement, for which she immediately apologized, has revealed is politically unseemly. It also shows how desperate the Obama camp is to stop Hillary’s nomination hopes, given the onslaught of polls showing Hillary Clinton beats John McCain in November, while the “presumptive nominee” cannot…

Overkill, meet backlash. Because all these feckless wonders are doing is further hardening Hillary supporters against any desire to support Obama if he actually does become the nominee. John McCain couldn’t have asked for a bigger gift. Because note to the Obama team: You can’t win without us… Superdelegates are going to have to deal with that now or end up being responsible for making the general election battle much more difficult than it needs to be, with the other reality obviously being picking the weaker candidate to go up against John McCain in the fall.

Gallup Daily: Clinton Maintains Lead Over McCain
Obama has 5-point lead over Clinton among Democrats - May 25, 2008  - Hillary Clinton maintains a significant 49% to 44% general election lead over John McCain among national registered voters, while Barack Obama loses to McCain, 45% to 47% respectively.
Can anyone explain the anomaly here?  How can Obama lead Clinton but lose to McCain, while Clinton beats McCain?

What Bartcop said (by lambert at Corrente)
Here: “Can we get a list of words that Hillary can say without the whore media throwing a hissy and cranking up the echo chamber for a 56-hour hate rush on MSGOP?”

No.

And: “Barack also said there was ‘no place for that in this campaign,’ but, of course, he couldn’t say what ‘that’ was, because the Clintons’ crimes are always undefinable.”

Bingo. Double bingo. Triple fucking bingo. Special Bazillion-Dollar Jackpot Happy Hour Triple-Bonus Pony bingo. No offense to whores, of course, comparing them to the press. At least they don’t try to pick our President for us, eh?
How is this paroxysm of hate any different from the right-wing crazies’ spasms over stuff they just make up out of thin air?  See below.

Inspired by Stephen Colbert

Hillary Clinton’s disturbing pattern (by vastleft at Corrente)
Hillary Clinton’s reference to Robert F. Kennedy is just the tip of the iceberg of her worrisome ill intent. Recently, she mentioned Abraham Lincoln. And not just in any context, but as as a pretext to get herself alone on a stage with her political rival, Barack Obama. Thank God, he didn’t take the bait! At this point, is there any doubt that she planned to go all “Sic semper tyrannis” on him?… Tell me, why is it that wherever she goes, Secret Service agents keep their watchful eyes on her?… It would be irresponsible not to speculate.

Obama Abandons ‘Presumption of Good Faith’ (The Note, ABC News)
Ending the “smallness of our politics” is the stated mission of Barack Obama’s White House run. In “The Audacity of Hope,” Obama recalls how he softened his website’s harsh rhetoric on abortion in 2004 after he received an email from a pro-life doctor. “[T]hat night, before I went to bed,” wrote Obama, “I said a prayer of my own — that I might extend the same presumption of good faith to others that the doctor had extended to me.” No such “presumption of good faith” was extended to Hillary Clinton on Friday. When Clinton referenced RFK’s assassination while discussing previous Democratic nomination fights which stretched into June, she was quickly scolded by the Obama campaign… The Obama campaign’s decision to target Clinton’s RFK reference forced the former first lady to express regret for her remarks. It also ensured that the dust-up would be covered on all three network newscasts.

I will be a guest on Head-On with Bob Kincaid today at 6:00 PM ET.  Listen to Bob from 6:00 to 9:00 PM ET every weekday on the Head-On Radio Network.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Cynthia Ruccia of Clinton Supporters Count Too says the website I posted yesterday is a counterfeit site, and it’s trying to raise money and collect people’s addresses. CSCT is currently operating off the hillaryis44.org website.

Left Toon Lane

Does Obama’s tepid finish spell trouble against McCain? (McClatchy)
WASHINGTON — Barack Obama may be on his way to the Democratic presidential nomination, but if so, he’s walking rather than racing across the finish line in a lukewarm close that could signal challenges heading into the general election.

Democrats Should Be More Democratic (by Froma Harrop at Real Clear Politics)
There was unfortunate symbolism in Barack Obama’s choice of Des Moines as the place to celebrate his delegate milestone on the day of the Kentucky and Oregon primaries. The Iowa caucuses were the first contest of the nominating process, and Obama’s success in them launched his campaign into the big time. But they were also the start of a deeply undemocratic process… So Hillary Clinton has a point when she adds up a popular vote in her favor that excludes certain caucuses from the count…

[T]he Democrats’ discussion of delegate math is already moving to Electoral College math, and here the skies turn cloudier for their likely candidate. One fear is a repeat of 2000, when Democrat Al Gore got a plurality of the popular vote, but Republican George W. Bush won on the basis of the Electoral College tally. Not very democratic, was it?  If Democrats ever intend to again argue that the raw numbers should determine the next president — and not an archaic system that can frustrate the democratic will — they might start by setting a better example.

Electoral-Vote.com, May 22, 2008 (270 needed to win)
Clinton     310        McCain     211        Tie     17
Obama     242        McCain     285        Tie     11
Click through to see the maps.

The punditry disconnect continues on primary night by David Bauder, Associated Press)
NEW YORK (AP) - Television’s news networks brought all of their punditry and electronic firepower to the Democratic presidential primary coverage on Tuesday, but left viewers yearning for the simplest of things. Say, a reporter with a microphone who could walk into a bar in rural Kentucky and ask some voters what was on their minds. The night of political water-treading - commentators who had already declared the Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton race over were declaring it again after the Kentucky and Oregon primaries - did little to repair the campaign’s punditry disconnect.

Don’t forget Florida 2000

“Each vote you cast is a prayer for our nation, a declaration of your dreams for your children and your grandchildren, a reflection of your determination to insure that our country lives up to its promise. Each vote is a tool, one used throughout history, to break barriers, open doors, and widen the circle of opportunity.”
 - Hillary Clinton, Boca Raton, Florida 5/21/08

The Democratic Party, especially after 2000 when Al Gore won the popular vote but lost the election, should stand up for the rights of voters. The caucus system, which is largely responsible for Obama’s pledged delegate lead, is unrepresentative and it disenfranchises voters, as would not seating the delegates from Michigan and Florida. Not representing voters (caucus states), disenfranchising them (FL & MI), calling them racist(?!), and ignoring them (choosing Obama) will lead to massive negative repercussions for the Democratic Party. This is why Hillary must fight on, and why she must win the nomination.

I support Hillary’s continued fight for the nomination in this late stage, with only three more primaries to go, because I think she is the more qualified candidate. She has served longer in the U.S. Senate, sitting and chairing important committees such as the Arms Services Committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee and the Subcommittee on Superfund and Environmental Health. She has sponsored over 350 bills—everything from added protection for children in vehicles to protection of a watershed, to added benefits for public safety officers. Hillary also helped create the SCHIP health insurance program that now covers over six million hildren. Additionally, Hillary Clinton has been a diplomat for over a decade who has traveled to over 80 countries representing the United States with dignity and courage, which has included speaking forcibly on Chinese soil about human rights and women’s rights.

I also support Hillary because I think she can win in the general election against John McCain.

Clinton wins by 35 percert in Kentucky - Axelrod announces Betsy Ross and Abe Lincoln to endorse Obama from their graves on Wednesday. (by John: south of Melrose at Liberal Rapture)
Another huge win for Clinton in a swing state.

KY/OR/Obama self-coronation thread #2 (by lambert at Corrente)
10:37 PM KY H 65 - 30 = 35 (100%).That’s it. Of course, only racists vote for Clinton, so it doesn’t really matter. Double shot? Cinnamon? Check the background. What are these “votes” of which you speak?

Just sayin. I mean, I understand where Obama’s coming from completely, but completely — disenfranchising two states and suppressing the vote in others is a critically important quality in seeming Presidential, and naturally Obama would be concerned with that. Why, just look at George Bush! The photo above is from Agence France Presse. This one is from AP:

My goodness! They cropped out the signage, didn’t they? Somehow, “Count The Vote” turned into “Vote”…. They know the drill…

Clinton calls victory in Kentucky a vote of confidence
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hillary Rodham Clinton cast her victory in Kentucky as an overwhelming vote of confidence Tuesday and said she’s still running for president not to demonstrate that she’s tough but to ensure that Democrats retake the White House.

R.J. Matson

Clintons show no surrender plan in final Kentucky rally
U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton and her husband, the former president, stirred an electric capacity crowd at Transylvania University on the eve of Kentucky’s long-awaited presidential primary, giving no sign that they plan to concede the Democratic race to Barrack Obama, even as Obama prepared to achieve a key milestone Tuesday — winning a majority of pledged delegates.

SurveyUSA: Clinton Set to Win in Kentucky
Just 24 hours before Kentucky Democrats vote in their presidential primary, a new SurveyUSA poll finds Sen. Hillary Clinton way ahead of Sen. Barack Obama, 62% to 31%. These results are effectively unchanged over the past six weeks.

What Oregon’s early primary turnout numbers reveal (Patchwork Nation blog, Christian Science Monitor)
The results from the Oregon primary will be known Tuesday night, but the votes have been coming in for about two weeks now. In America’s only all vote-by-mail state, Oregonians don’t need to line up at the polls. In fact, if they are sure of their selection, they can return a ballot immediately after receiving it – and some have done that… The community types with the heaviest turnout through last Wednesday are not typically Obama strongholds, based upon primary-season results so far… In areas where Obama is expected to do well, including Oregon’s populous “Monied ’Burbs” and “Campus and Careers” counties, a lower number of ballots have been returned… Past elections in Oregon show that there’s often a late rush of ballots turned in on Election Day. In the past four primaries in the state, between 26 percent and 31 percent of the total vote has come in on that day.

Obama: No victory declaration Tuesday
MILWAUKIE, Ore. - Concerned about appearing presumptuous or antagonistic towards Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama will not declare victory in the Democratic nomination fight Tuesday in the event he wins enough pledged delegates to claim a majority.Obama draws 80,000 to Oregon rally
Fire officials estimated 65,000 packed into a riverside park for a spectacular afternoon rally at a sun-splashed scene on the banks of the Willamette River in Portland. They said an additional 15,000 were left outside and dozens of boaters could be seen floating in the river. “Wow, wow, wow,” Obama said as he surveyed the audience. “We have had a lot of rallies. This is the most spectacular setting, the most spectacular crowd we have had this entire campaign.”

(cross-posted at Reclusive Leftist)

Via Taylor Marsh comes word that Obama is already offering reasons why he’s going to lose in Kentucky (Fox News, chain mails, stupidity), including this gem:

“What it says is that I’m not very well known in that part of the country,” Obama said. “Sen. Clinton, I think, is much better known, coming from a nearby state of Arkansas. So it’s not surprising that she would have an advantage in some of those states in the middle.”

Taylor remarks:

No, this is not a made-up quote from The Onion. He actually believes this, apparently. Problem is, a quick glance at a U.S. map reveals that Illinois actually borders Kentucky and is clearly closer than Arkansas.

Is he really this geographically challenged? Of course the logic of his thinking is plain enough: Kentucky = white racist hicks = Arkansas. Chicago = My Kinda Town. That Chicago is in Illinois, and that Illinois and Kentucky actually touch, are meaningless details; in Obama’s mind, Kentucky might as well be in another galaxy. (I wonder if Illinois residents realize that he’s only representing Chicago — or at least the non-Kentucky-contaminated part of Illinois — in the Senate?)

Mostly I think he just doesn’t care. Yeah, yeah, the Great Lakes are in Oregon and Arkansas is next to Kentucky and there are 57 states, and geez, can we just stop now and declare me the nominee?

(cross-posted at Reclusive Leftist)

Yesterday afternoon I was extremely honored to participate in a conference call with Sen. Clinton and a bunch of other pro-Hillary bloggers, thanks to the good offices of Peter Daou, the Clinton campaign’s internet guru. The Senator was warm, gracious, and every bit as sharp and energetic as ever. (How does the woman do it?) Her voice was raw from talking all day, but that didn’t slow her down.

I’ve been away from the computer for most of the past 24 hours, so I’m just now sitting down to file my report, as it were, with you all. Let me just run quickly through the key points and highlights of the call:

Dear DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee,

I would like to respectfully ask you to seat the delegates of Florida and Michigan at the Democratic convention.

I feel very strongly that if Hillary Clinton is treated unfairly by the Democratic Party, then I in good conscience will not vote for the Democratic Party in the fall elections.

Florida was a fair election. Both candidates had their names on the ballot and Hillary did not campaign in Florida while Obama bought national cable advertisements that effectively allowed him to campaign there in violation of the pledge all candidates took to not campaign in Florida. Because Obama behaved in an unprincipled manner, this should be considered in your decision.

Obama’s new ad is a “clear and blatant violation”

In Michigan Senator Obama worked to prevent a new Democratic primary from occurring, again acting in an unprincipled manner. To allow Obama to be rewarded for his role in what is, in essence, voter suppression would be wrong. Hence, the Michigan delegates must be seated because having been given the chance to put his name on the ballot, Obama chose to prevent a vote from occurring. To allow this to stand and therefore stymy Senator Clinton’s bid for the nomination is patently unfair to her and completely unacceptable.

“The Obama people are blocking it in the Legislature”

Further, you should not punish the people of Florida and Michigan by ignoring their voices in the nomination process. People voted; you should not disenfranchise them by dismissing them.

Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Mike Luckovich

Who Wants to Be the Next Millionaire? (by Larry Johnson at No Quarter)
Here’s the news short and sweet–if you have a copy of the Michelle Obama video, in which she is lambasting white people (four different sources say she uses “whitey” as an epithet) at Jeremiah Wright’s church, then there is an ultra conservative Republican billionaire who wants to pay your $1 million dollars for the tape. Why? He hates John McCain. Conservative Republicans refer to John McCain as a Marxist and a sell out (and those are the nice comments). The billionaire in question believes Barack is a very weak candidate and, if he gets the Democratic nod, then McCain will surely be President. Especially after the October “surprise” of Michelle Obama railing against whitey. The billionaire wants to preempt McCain and Rove and has put the word out thru conservative networks that there is a $1 million dollar bounty for the person or persons who produce the tape.
From Larry Johnson’s bio: Larry C. Johnson is CEO and co-founder of BERG Associates, LLC, an international business-consulting firm with expertise combating terrorism and investigating money laundering. Mr. Johnson works with US military commands in scripting terrorism exercises, briefs on terrorist trends, and conducts undercover investigations on counterfeiting, smuggling and money laundering. Mr. Johnson, who worked previously with the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. State Department’s Office of Counter Terrorism, is a recognized expert in the fields of terrorism, aviation security, crisis and risk management.

Clinton Election Juggernaut Accelerates (by bringiton at Corrente)
After Hillary Clinton’s historic 41-point victory in the West Virginia primary, two questions loom: How long will Barak Obama cling to his shattered dreams of the presidency, and how much damage will be done to the Democratic Party by his stubborn and divisive refusal to accept the obvious? What just weeks earlier had looked to the Obama camp like an easy path to victory has been derailed following his confidence-shattering defeat in Indiana, a state conventional wisdom and his own campaign had projected he would win, and his disastrous showing in Pennsylvania in spite of outspending Clinton 3:1… Withdrawing before any more bitterness develops would be in the best interests of the Party as well as the security of Obama’s political future - and the political futures of the Party Leadership.

(cross-posted at Reclusive Leftist)

In the wake of sweetie-gate, someone emailed me this story from a year ago:

Obama, speaking at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, raised eyebrows Monday at a fundraiser for Sen. Barbara Boxer when, as we reported, the Illinois Senator described his Democratic colleague from California as “a fighter, a leader, a charmer, a cutie.”

The remark “set off a lot of murmuring,” said one Democratic strategist in attendance, “among a lot of very strong powerful women around Boxer there who were offended.”

The descriptive of a powerful feminist senator raised “a strategic question: is (Obama) ready for prime time? You don’t call a U.S. senator a ‘cutie,’” said the strategist, whose take was echoed by others.

Actually you do, if you’re Barack Obama. U.S. senators, journalists, pharmacists, factory workers – they’re all “sweeties” or “cuties” to Obama. As long as they’re female, that is. (Can you imagine him as President? Look out, Angela Merkel.)

What the hell is this man’s problem? He’s my age — mid-40s — and there is no excuse for this. He should know damn well not to talk to or about women in that manner. It reminds me of my first job back in 1980, when the male boss called all the women in the office “honey” and expected them to fetch him coffee. Workin’ 9 to 5…

But let me get back to that Boxer article from last year. Listen to this next bit (still quoting the unnamed strategist):

(cross-posted at Reclusive Leftist)

I am woman, hear me roar.

ABC’s Political Punch reports on “female supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton who are angry — at the Democratic Party, at the Obama campaign, or at the general situation that sees their candidate facing tough times, in their view, in part because of sexism.”

I’m glad our collective voices are starting to make an impact. But the amazing thing is that the guest blogger behind this piece, Rick Stein, talks about the whole phenomenon like it’s something through the Hubble Telescope that’s so far away and vague and weird that nobody can be sure what the hell it is. Dig it:

I confess to being a man who has not always seen what his female friends and colleagues see as sexist in this race. What do you think? Has Sen. Clinton faced particular (unfair) challenges because of her gender? More than Sen. Obama has faced because of his race?

Is it humanly possible to be that oblivious? I mean, if Stein were a tree sloth or something, sure. Tree sloths sleep a lot and I get the impression they’re not all that plugged in to the news. But how can any sentient non-tree sloth American be this clueless? We’re talking Hillary Nutcrackers, people. “Iron my shirt.” An anti-Hillary 501c called C.U.N.T. Another one called “Stop running for President and make me a sandwich.”