faboo mama

You may or may not have heard of Loren Feldman. If you have, I’m sorry. If you haven’t, you’re lucky. I’m not going to get into too much detail, but let’s just say Feldman is something of a verbal masturbater who thinks his video works are great satire. Personally, I think they’re giant yawners and shows that Feldman has no fucking clue about any of the stuff he says he’s satirizing.

Recently, there’s been some Schadenfreude among social media geeks and bloggers because Feldman lost a contract with Verizon over his TechNigga’ “satire”.  Oh well, it sucks to be him.  No one will ever accuse Feldman of being a fair guy or being able to roll with the punches.

I’m sure I’m breaching some kind of netiquette, but frankly don’t give a fuck…this shit killed me:

“Finally going through my followers list here, never looked to see who people were before. Blocking people by the hundreds.”

All because of a little public humiliation…something he does to others all the time.

Okay…it’s more like anger.

The running thing.

GRRRRRR.

The man sucks.

It’s nearly impossible to get out of the house because of him.  Why?  Because there are two toddlers here and he’s only awake between 1pm and 4am and most of that time he’s eating, working or dicking around.  And dicking around and eating are very important to getting the working part done.

This morning, I got up to go running.  The little boy felt a bit hot, so I was going to leave him here.  Asked the Mr. if he’d stay up so that I can do this, I’d take the little girl with me.  8:30 rolls around and the man is on the sofa sleeping with baby boy cuddled up.  Great.  Only problem is that he was really and truly sleeping.  I wasn’t going to leave baby boy with sleeping dad, so I got the kid ready and we left.

Got to the park and started walking, so far so good…started running, oh wait…the kids want to look at the swimming pool.  Then they wanted to look at the baseball kids, the playground, the ducks, they lake…baby boy started picking friggin’ flowers.  Not to mention the entire time Miss Diva whined and begged for stuff.  45 minutes later, I had run a total of 57 seconds.  57 seconds?    We spent another 20 minutes at one of the playgrounds and then we came home.

I told him,”Dude, this is not going to work.”

Mumble-grumble, “What? I told you you could leave the boy with me.”

Pfffft.  I asked him to get up so that I can go back to the park.  “No.”

No.

He won’t even get up for 20 minutes.

Now…remember back when I say I’m surrounded by non-encouraging people?  He’s their ringleader.  I know this about him.  I’ve always known this about him.  I’m not asking for a “Good job, honey!” or even daily inquiries on what’s going on.  I don’t need, nor want that–in fact, it would probably bug the crap out of me.  What I need is for him to be helpful.  What I need is for him to get out of my way.

About 6 or 7 years ago, unless it affected him directly, I pretty much stopped telling him my plans because of this, what I dramatically call, sabotage.   He’s a perennial roadblock.  You’d be amazed at how stuff he had been talking about for years all of a sudden gets Really Important To Get Done NOW when I’m in the middle of something.   Actually, you probably have someone in your life like that.  I’m lucky in that I can count 9 people I know in my life like that.  It sucks when it’s a friend, it’s hard when it’s a relative, it super blows when you’re married to that person.
Well, I’m off to run the “track” I didn’t want in my tiny backyard.  I love the part where I try to avoid poking my eye out on the lemon tree, running into the fence, and stepping my plants.  I figured that 16 times around equals ~1/4 mile.  Hey, he wanted the track for his cars and has used it maybe 9 times in the past year.  It’s about time it gets some use.

I just read Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment on Ferraro’s remarks. Some highlights:

And when this despicable statement — ugly in its overtones, laughable in its weak grip of facts, and moronic in the historical context — when it floats outward from the Clinton Campaign like a poison cloud, what do the advisors have their candidate do?

Do they have Senator Clinton herself compare the remark to Al Campanis talking on Nightline… on Jackie Robinson day… about how blacks lacked the necessities to become baseball executives, while she points out that Barock Obama has not gotten his 1600 delegates as part of some kind of Affirmative Action plan?
[snip]

No.
Somebody tells her that simply disagreeing with and rejecting the remarks is sufficient.
And she should then call, “regrettable”, words that should make any Democrat retch.
And that she should then try to twist them, first into some pox-on-both-your-houses plea to ’stick to the issues,’ and then to let her campaign manager try to bend them beyond all recognition, into Senator Obama’s fault.
And thus these advisers give Congresswoman Ferraro nearly a week in which to send Senator Clinton’s campaign back into the vocabulary… of David Duke.

“Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let’s address reality and the problems we’re facing in this world, you’re accused of being racist, so you have to shut up.
“Racism works in two different directions. I really think they’re attacking me because I’m white.
“How’s that?”

And…

This, Senator Clinton, is your campaign, and it is your name.
Grab the reins back from whoever has led you to this precipice, before it is too late.
Voluntarily or inadvertently, you are still awash in this filth.
Your only reaction has been to disagree, reject, and to call it regrettable.
Her only reaction has been to brand herself as the victim, resign from your committee, and insist she will continue to speak.
Unless you say something definitive, Senator, the former Congresswoman is speaking with your approval.
You must remedy this.
And you must… reject… and denounce… Geraldine Ferraro.

Yay. Keith spoke up. Rockin’!

Yet, as I read this I got pissed. Not only does it echo my previous post, but this little rant is bullshit, in that the media is complicit. As I posted to the New Hole “blog”:

Now, if only the other chatterboxes at MSNBC could see this point. I get that you all are about ratings and this drama only bumps them, but there should be repercussions. Schuster says something stupid and he’s suspended for two weeks. Buchanan says something stupid/racist almost every other time he’s on the air and he hasn’t beensuspended.

I get indignation. I get this. Heck, I posted something similar on my own blog earlier today…but it’s a little hard to take when you watch the same channel and see that MSNBC/NBC/GE as a whole is involved in this charade. That the people who are supposed to be bringing us unfiltered facts are spinning for their own benefit.

I don’t expect this comment, like so many of my others, to be approved, while the racist/sexist/xenophobic comments of the smaller brained users are approved. Still, I want you all to see that there are people watching and listening. You’re not absolved from this disgusting political climate we dwell in. You, yourselves are also “awash in this filth”.

Then I moseyed on over to Booman Tribune where there’s a post on the comment. Still upset, I posted:

I just read the Special Comment. Yeah, it was good, blah, blah, blah…didn’t say anything I didn’t post on my own blog earlier to day. Still, I’m mad. At MSNBC. At the media in general. This is their doing.

I know there are bigots. Bigots know that with a 24 hr. new cycle and so many 24 hr. news stations, that their bullshit will get amplified, spun, dissected and misdirected. They know that in a month, these pundits will act as if the whole thing was just a misunderstanding and that attacking that person (especially if they’re white) will become out of bounds. That’s why someone like Ferraro feels she can speak that way. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear,some time in late April, their pundits picking up the ball and running away with it, while chastising anyone (especially if they’re black) who dares insults Ferraro.

This is such a steaming load, ya know…When the people of Pennsylvania vote…we’re going to hear about this again. But the facts will be so twisted, it will be back to CrazyLand on TV. If Obama loses whites by anything more than 30%, those same pundits will ask, “Are white voters tired of the Obama campaign injecting race into these contests? Is this a reaction to Ferraro being drummed off the Clinton campaign.” No one’s going to remember Olbermann’s fucking Special Comment. No one’s going respond with the facts. They’ll pretend that the Obama campaign called for Obama’s head and that Clinton graciously responded.

Bleeech.

Liza responded clearly with the reason why I was mad:

It pisses me off that it take a white guy on a cable news show for people like us to be vindicated, but if it is a black woman pointing the obvious, she is just being a divisive and ‘reverse racist’ bitch.

OMG…someone in the liberal blogosphere who gets it! My reply:

I’ve been called that…I’ve gotten the doe eyes, “What racism?”…it’s enough to make me puke. And yes:

It pisses me off that it take a white guy on a cable news show for people like us to be vindicated

That is precisely why I’m steamed. I’ve sat here looking at accepted racism in the liberal blogosphere, had these morons tell me that I’m “being overly-sensitive” or that “maybe the person is having a bad day” or any other such bullshit, but let some white guy on TV tell them that something has crossed a line and it’s like blinders falling off.

And now, all those racists Democrats, and there’s no pretending that they don’t exist, have cover thanks to Ferraro and Clinton. I don’t ever want to hear another Clinton supporter who defended Ferraro’s remarks whine about sexism, real or perceived.

But I’m even more disgusted by people like Tubbs-Jones, Rangel, and Jackson Lee who just sat there and did nothing, said nothing. They could have stood up publicly and said, “This is not right, nor acceptable.”

They said nothing.

I’m an utterly disgusted with Democrats today.

I am done. I wrote a letter to the DNC today about this.

I would like to register my disappointment in the ugly turn the Democratic party has taken these past few weeks. I dmit freely to being an Obama supporter, though Dodd was my first choice.

The only reason I turned to Obama after Iowa was because of the race-baiting tactics from the Clinton’s campaign between July 2007 and Jan. 4, 2008.

That entire time, the party leaders were silent. They stood by why a fellow Senator and Democrat used right-wing talking points, to denigrate a candidate. As a black female, as a Muslim woman, Sen. Clinton’s antics were something I expect from someone like George Allen or Trent Lott.

I had hoped that after news reports mentioned that Bill Clinton has been “talked to” about his Southern Strategy, that we had seen the last of the race-baiting from the Clinton’s. I was wrong.

Geraldine Ferraro’s comments from last month and these past few days were not only out of bounds as Democrats,
but also as a functioning member of society. It pains me that the party I was raised in accepts these sorts of remarks.

I’ve sat here for the past 3 days, wondering when a party leader would step in an speak up on behalf of the most loyal bloc of the Democratic party. There was nothing. I sat here the last day searching elected officials websites and local papers throughout this country, looking for something from some elected offical denouncing Ferraro’s remarks, chastising the Clinton’s for not taking a harder stance on her outdated and factually incorrect statements. The silence is deafening.

I receive a lot of requests for money from you guys. When I had money, I gave freely. I volunteer my time and energy to get Democrats elected. I make phone calls, I blog, I email. This is all going to stop as of today. Because today, I am not proud to call myself a Democrat. Today, I am ashamed, as a black person in the United States, to associate with a party where racist statements are simply “disagreed” with.

There’ll probably no more energy expended by me on behalf of the Democratic Party. I will continue to do what I can to get Sen. Obama in the White House. If the party decides to give the nomination to Clinton, then I will sit this year out. We Democrats are faced with the historic option of voting for a woman or a non-white male, come November. I’m unwilling to step into the gutter to vote for the former.

Can we please get some new black leadership?

Ben Smith at Politico give us this:

A Ferraro flashback

“If Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn’t be in the race,” she said.

Really. The cite is an April 15, 1988 Washington Post story (byline: Howard Kurtz), available only on Nexis.

Here’s the full context:

Placid of demeanor but pointed in his rhetoric, Jackson struck out repeatedly today against those who suggest his race has been an asset in the campaign. President Reagan suggested Tuesday that people don’t ask Jackson tough questions because of his race. And former representative Geraldine A. Ferraro (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that because of his “radical” views, “if Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn’t be in the race.”

Asked about this at a campaign stop in Buffalo, Jackson at first seemed ready to pounce fiercely on his critics. But then he stopped, took a breath, and said quietly, “Millions of Americans have a point of view different from” Ferraro’s.

Discussing the same point in Washington, Jackson said, “We campaigned across the South . . . without a single catcall or boo. It was not until we got North to New York that we began to hear this from Koch, President Reagan and then Mrs. Ferraro . . . . Some people are making hysteria while I’m making history.”

AMERCIAblog points out that back on Feb. 27th, Geraldine Ferraro said on FOX:

FERRARO: If Barack Obama were a white man, would we be talking about this as a potential real problem for Hillary?

If he were a woman…

GIBSON: You mean if he were John Edwards?

FERRARO: If he were a woman of any color, would he be in this position that he’s in, absolutely not.

GIBSON: Geraldine, are you playing the race card?

FERRARO: No, and that’s the problem. Every time you say the truth - I’m the first person, John, and you know how honest I am, I am the first person who will say in 1984 if my name were Gerard instead of Geraldine, I would never have been picked as the vice presidential candidate.

And most recently, in the Daily Breeze:

“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position,” she continued. “And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.” Ferraro does not buy the notion of Obama as the great reconciler.

As we now know, Ferraro took her talking points to the Daily Breeze on Feb. 28th and made the same statement.  For whatever reason, the Daily Breeze decided not to release that interview until recently.  I’m sure it has nothing to do with hurting Clinton’s chances on March 4th. </sarcasm> Ferraro has now spent the last 2 days on FOX defending her comments.  It is important to note that Ferraro is a FOX political contributor.  She feels more than comfortable saying these things there, because that’s the sort of thing they say there.

I mention all this to make it clear that Ferraro does have a pattern of this brand of race-baiting.  She can pretend that she’s not a bigot, but her statements make it hard to defend that stance.

That being said, I’m curious that not one of our so-called black leaders are denouncing this statement.  Whether they support Obama or not, the statement is the height of intelligence insulting and race-baiting.  It’s obvious that this is a dog-whistle fog horn to the supposed racists of Pennsylvania.   I only wonder why the Clinton’s didn’t think it wouldn’t have worked in Ohio or Texas.

But there is something we’re not hearing.  The silence is louder than the Hillbots psychotically blaming Obama for Ferraro’s statements (after all, how dare he be half-black!) .  It’s the silence of all those black men and women we’ve elected for higher offices.  It’s the lack of condemnation from people like Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, Rep. John Conyers, Mayor Andrew Young, Rep. Maxine Waters, Rep. Charles Rangel etc…Where is Tavis Smiley?  Where is Julian Bond?  Where is Maya Angelou?  They’re all Clinton supporters and they’ve been strangely silent on this.  One could only assume that they agree with the Clinton’s race-baiting.  Or are they just being good House Negroes?

I do not wonder why the media is complicit in this.

In 2006, Harry Belafonte, who is a singer and has never held an elected office, praised Hugo Chavez.   A few days later, Sen. Barack Obama was on some cable talkshow and the host actually asked Obama what his feelings on Belafonte’s statement was.  Now follow me here…when that dude shot up Virginia Tech, did they trot out Jackie Chan, Margaret Cho or Sen. Daniel Inouye?  White people are always shooting up places or kidnapping people, but you never see a white person on TV being asked to condemn the terrorist and to distance themselves and therefore the entire white race from the psycho.

Let’s do a little exercise.  Let’s pick white people’s favorie boogeyman/codeword, Al Sharpton–keeping in mind that he is NOT and Obama surrogate or supporter–had gotten on TV.  So Al Sharpton has an interview and says, “If Clinton was a man, she would not be in this position.  And if she was a man (of any color) she would not be in this position. She happens to be very lucky to be who she is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”

How fast do you think it would take for the Clinton’s campaign to insist that Sen. Obama “reject and denounce” thoses statements.  How much time and ink would be spent by pundits and bloggers decrying Sharpton’s injecting of race in the campaign?  How many black politicians would have been trotted out on TV to denounce Sharpton?  How many times would Stephanie Tubbs-Jones would have had her black ass on TV playing Mammy to Clinton?

Can we please get some new black leadership?

Now you know it’s bad if I’m willingly linking to huffpost, but here it is.

That’s right. What you just saw was a bitter and sad woman, not only spreading her campaign’s smear of the Obama campaign as a cult, but mocking those who hope and wish for a better day. This is a person, who wants those of us supporting Obama right now to vote for her. And she pulls this shit?

Okay, granted the Clinton’s campaign has already written off future supporters who happen to be black, activists, caucu-goers or residents of the states she lost (that would almost half the United States so far). So how does it make sense to attack the remaining people she hasn’t insulted? Yet.

This came the day after channeling Lynne Cheney’s fake outrage on two week old mailers sent from the Obama campaign? I know you saw that video? You squirmed because it was embarrassing to see a sitting Senator and former First Lady throw a public tantrum on stuff that is true. Just like when Lynne Cheney said that John Edwards was a “bad man” for mentioning that her daughter is a lesbian. Which is true.

Now, one reason I say that Clinton pulled a Cheney is that the media led you to believe that Clinton’s outburst was during a rally in Ohio. I thought it odd that you didn’t see the 50 middle-aged white women and 2 black guys behind her, so I doubted it was during a rally. Turns out it wasn’t.

Clinton made her remarks to a cluster of reporters as the crowd dispersed from a rally at an Ohio college gymnasium. Waving the mailings and raising her voice, Clinton accused the Illinois senator of “perpetuating falsehoods.”

If she was really that upset, why didn’t she mention it during the rally?

Here’s Clinton’s outburst where she denigrates speeches and rallies (and pretends like she and John Edwards were on the same page all along):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLhgJGBkczk&rel=1]

Here is Obama’s response.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/6FwOEoArtjM&rel=1]

Now which would you rather have in the Oval Office?

What impressed me the most was that Obama could have mentioned the Clinton campaign last minute mailers in NH, MA and WI. The ones on right-to-choose where the campaign lied to the IL chapter of NOW about Sen. Obama’s votes in the IL State Senate to get them to endorse her. The IL chapter of Planned Parenthood has explained those votes and the arrangement with Sen. Obama, but the Clinton campaign continues to send out mailers debunked after New Hampshire.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/OVuMYKs8iJs&rel=1]

From the Carbetbagger Report:

The Clinton attack that Obama is being dishonest in calling his plan universal is also itself dishonest if they consider Clinton’s plan to be universal. Incidentally, mailers like this have become quite common this election year. They include mailers which lied about Obama’s position on Social Security and mailers which distorted Obama’s views on abortion rights leading Lorna Brett Howard, the former President of Chicago NOW, to drop her support for Clinton and back Obama. I hope everyone has checked out the videos from Howard and why she supports Obama. Another video everyone should see which compares the two candidates was made by Lawrence Lessig, with both video and transcript here.

If the Clinton’s want to run on this boneheaded healthcare issue that’s fine, but don’t pretend that it’s outrageous when your candidate uses your words to make his point. Don’t pretend like there’s anything untruthful in there, when it’s the words you’ve said and several people have debunked them over the course of the last 5 weeks. But more importantly, you’ve compared Sen. Obama to George Bush and now to Karl Rove. Your fake outrage is pathetic and insulting.

She actually said (in regard to the Obama/Patrick non-story):

Clinton, in remarks to the ABC affiliate in Honolulu that were reported by the Chicago Tribune, asserted: “Look, it’s not us making this charge. It’s the media.”

Right.

But on Monday, the Clinton campaign announced a conference call “to discuss a recent speech delivered by Sen. Obama” and included a YouTube link that showed Obama remarks side by side with similar comments by his friend, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.

There goes that pesky media, making the Clinton campaign annouce another conference call.

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said in an e-mailed statement: “Senator Clinton knows full well that her campaign held a conference call with reporters to fan these flames and the fact that she suggested her campaign had nothing to do with it is exactly the kind of evasive tactic voters are rejecting.”

h/t to The Field Negro on this one…

Seems, some asshat over at Fox has compared Sen. Obama to Hitler. Crooks and Liars gives me audio. Media Matters gives transcripts. Sullivan spends a few moments to blame the caller for the comparison. Another caller calls in to…um, call Sullivan out on his BS and part of the conversation:

CALLER: — you would compare Barack Obama to Hitler, because we need leaders that can inspire us, to hope for the future. We need people like him.

SULLIVAN: I love the — I love his speech. I told you I sat there and I went — I’m going — I’m listening to his speech –

CALLER: Why would you bring Hitler in on it?

SULLIVAN: I didn’t. The caller brought Hitler in on it. The caller said he sounds like Hitler.

CALLER: Well, why would you even pick it up? It’s denigrating his character.

SULLIVAN: No, it’s not.

That’s all we need to know. Sullivan thinks that comparing Hitler and Obama is funny. He changes his reasonings throughout the phone but ends with:

SULLIVAN: I think — don’t you think I’ve made a very good point of the difference between his leadership speaking style and Ms. Clinton’s speaking style?

CALLER: Yeah, I think you do. If you had left Hitler out of it, you’d have had a perfect show.

SULLIVAN: All right, we won’t play Hitler any more, then.

CALLER: Oh, I –

SULLIVAN: One time — oh, come on, one more time? Can I, please, one more time? Just one more time? Then I won’t do it again.

Isn’t that precious?

Remember way back when Sen. Dick Durbin compared Gitmo to a gulag? The Republicans in Congress and all those dolts on Fox were besides themselves. They were pissing their pants and crying in their beers because the big meanie from Illinois upset them. Needless to say, Durbin caved and apologized. Remember all the other stupid bits of head exploding drama you’ve heard from the Republicans these past 14 years because they have no ideas and no willingness to actually make the government work for the people?

Good.

Now, I want you to remember the silence.

I just saw on PoliticalTicker, this steaming load of crap:

WHITE MARSH, Maryland (CNN) — Hillary Clinton on Monday explained away Barack Obama’s clean sweep of the weekend’s caucuses and primaries as a product of a caucus system that favors “activists” and, in the case of the Louisiana primary, an energized African-American community.

Oh surely, she’s not suggesting anything, right? Read further:

“These are caucus states by and large, or in the case of Louisiana, you know, a very strong and very proud African-American electorate, which I totally respect and understand.”

Clinton has publicly dismissed the caucus voting system since before Super Tuesday, seeking to lower expectations heading into a series of contests that played to Obama’s advantage. His campaign features what many consider to be a stronger and more dedicated grassroots organization than Clinton’s.

Noting that “my husband never did well in caucus states either,” Clinton argued that caucuses are “primarily dominated by activists” and that “they don’t represent the electorate, we know that.” (emphasis mine)

This is me mad

And what the hell does her husband have to do with anything? 3rd term.

Let’s not forget that she won in Nevada, after filing a lawsuit and both Clinton’s whining about how unfair it was. Well, um…so what if there was cheating and lying being done on behalf of the Clinton’s. The caucuses are clearly unfair because Sen. Obama carried something like 97% of the counties in the state.

Below is the not-mad response I posted to Political Ticker, that we can assume will not be approved:

Whoa, talk about deluded. Democrats can’t win in those states? Well, I’ll give her Alaska, but let’s take a look at vote totals:
North Dakota -
Obama 11,625 61%

Romney 3,490 36% 8
McCain 2,224 23% 5
Paul 2,082 21% 5
Huckabee 1,947 20% 5
The GOP total for that race is 9,743 votes. I’m sorry, who can’t win North Dakota?

Nebraska and Idaho haven’t had their GOP primaries yet, so I have no idea what they’re basing this statement on at all. Other than that, in almost all there races Sen. Obama won, the total number of votes for him alone, are more than what the top two GOP candidates received combined.

And thank you Sen. Clinton for once again, dismissing activists. If it wasn’t for activists, neither you nor Sen. Obama would be where you are today. I’m sure the activists working on your campaign appreciate that unnecessary and unwarranted slam.

Sounds like Ralph Nader isn’t hasn’t gotten over himself and is considering another presidential run.

MONTREAL (Reuters) - Consumer advocate Ralph Nader said on Monday he will decide soon on whether to make a another bid for the White House in 2008, eight years after playing a key role as a third party presidential candidate.

“I’ll decide in about a month,” he said in an interview broadcast on CBC Radio’s Daybreak show in Montreal. (Reuters)

Duncan Hunter has finally dropped this charade he called a campaign. Whoo-hoo! The GOP field has gotten rid of their craziest racists (save Ron Paul). Why are ours winning primaries?

Okay, that was a little mean. But you know you laughed.

“We thought we’d do much better in Nevada, but the numbers weren’t there,” said campaign spokesman Bob Bevill. “We were not able to get any traction.”

Translation: We know there some crazy-ass racists in them thar hills and we thought we’d skeer up some votes. We, uh, forgot they were separatist too.