Monday, June 2, 2008

Hillary, Again

I've been listening to and reading the words of all these women who agree with Senator Clinton: Hillary or nothing. And it all sounded sort of familiar to me and I realized that many of these women were involved in the Women's Movement in the 1970s.

I remember going to lots of meetings and trying to get women involved in the issues that affected women in general and women of color in particular. But the upshot of the meetings was always that first we'd work on the issues that the white women felt were important and when those issues had been resolved, we'd move on to the issues that mattered to the other women.

The fact that all of this took place in Oakland, California and most of the women in the group were women of color probably explains a lot about why the group soon disbanded. My other vivid memory of those women was being given a hard time about being the mother of a son. As if women determine the gender of babies.

Oh well. So, what does this have to do with Hillary. Seems to be the same thing happening again. Listening to and reading the words of some of her most fevered supporters I keep reliving the 1970s. Hillary and only Hillary. Doesn't matter that she's lost, doesn't matter that her sense of entitlement didn't save her...she deserves this nomination and the rest of us be damned.

It is up to the Obama supporters to reach out to the Clinton supporters. Not the other way around. I just heard Obama talk about Senator Clinton in the most gracious manner and yet Allida Black, co-founder of WomenCountPac, just said on Warren Olney's To the Point that Senator Obama had to be more gracious about Senator Clinton and stated that Senator Obama has not been kind to Senator Clinton lately.

Listening to Ms. Black go on an on about "counting all the votes," I wondered where she was in 2004 when the election was being stolen by the Republicans. I was in Seattle on the steps of the Federal Building with one of my best buds (meow!) demonstrating against the tyranny. There weren't a lot of people with us and it was pretty lonely. But I'm sure Ms. Black was in the streets along with former President Clinton and soon to be Senator Clinton.

I think she's getting Obama supporters like Rev. Michael Pfleger confused with the Senator himself. I watched the YouTube of Rev. Pfleger's remarks and thought they were on target. I also read the AP article Obama Campaign Used Party Rules to Foil Clinton and it too is on target.

Makes me think of Oakland and 1972.

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