She's Baaaaack. Stephanie Tubbs Jones On Ferraro (video)

Stephanie Tubbs Jones provides for hours of entertainment. If she weren't so embarrassing, I'd kick back with some popcorn and just enjoy the show. Hat tip to ColorOfChange for letting me know about her MSNBC appearance, and of course, RedLasso for the ability to clip it.

Here goes:

My observations:

• Seems to be the first time I've heard STJ come out strongly against the racial bullshit flowing freely from the Clinton campaign. Could she be getting the message that her own shameless defense of HRC offenses is unacceptable. Watch how she puts up the shield of "we at the CBC..."
  
• I'm still annoyed at her and others who try to paint the ugliness of the Democratic primary as some sort of 50/50 guilt to be split between Obama and Clinton. By far, the Obama campaign has taken a much higher road. Her calls "inviting the Obama campaign" to move along with her seem disingenuous and factually off. "Both sides" have not been equally divisive and destructive here
• She's out of touch, claiming that all Dems will magically come back together in November despite what we've seen thusfar.

Finally, I just don't like her. She's been wrong so many times and just plain irritating to watch and listen to. Watching her is like picking your nose. It's nasty and wrong, but you just can't help it, and you know you want to look!

Open Thread: Pat Buchanan Tells Black Woman to Shut Up, Defends Ferraro

In your comments and emails, we hear ya. I know you need to speak your peace on this. Kelli Goff REPRESENTS against Pat "Racist" Buchanan and he digs a hole for himself. She calls him on his pathetic effort to shut down her correct rhetoric on Obama's accomplishments and Ferraro's ignorance. It is a thing of beauty and I give Rachel Maddow much props for schooling Buchanan.

My favorite part is toward the end where she says: "Pat, why don't you try out being black for a day and see how that works out for you. I'm sure you'll have a lovely time in America." Leaving him speechless. Personally, I love being black. It's a constant tension between challenge and opportunity. And a gift to belong to an amazing, ever-evolving and innovative culture whose warmth, spirit, strength and energy is envied and emulated the world over. Still, being African-American can present...inconveniences and insults from time to time. If Obama enjoys any advantage over Clinton, it's gender-based, certainly not race-based.

Watch the video and enjoy Goff proving Buchanan "factually wrong". Go on girl.

Keith Olberman Comes Correct On Clinton And Ferraro

I love this man. Sounds like he's been tapped into the JJP community :) And I love that he calls on Clinton supporters to demand more from her in declaring a continuation of these racial, fear-mongering tactics unacceptable. He calls her strategy a "suicide pact" that could sink the chances of any democrat winning in November. So true.

Glad to see such thoughtful commentary out there reaching millions.

Geraldine Ferraro and the Clinton Campaign's Strategy

JJP reader Brandon sent in this hilarious and pointed video about Geraldine Ferraro and the sophisticated Clinton campaign strategy to attack Obama on race. The satirical video has "Clinton campaign workers" defending themselves and explaining their strategy. It's funnier and better done than anything you'll see on SNL. They nail it.



It seems like such a desperate, short-sighted strategy on the part of the Clintons because they risk digging a hole that can't be filled again. They risk alienating voters who won't come back to support them. They risk our forming memories. They risk creating a sore so festering that it won't heal. They are risking one of the lowest black turnouts (if she's the nominee) in recent history. We ain't dumb and we can hear a dog whistle from a long ways off. God, what a disappointment they've become.

My Take on Geraldine Ferraro

I've been following the reports on Geraldine Ferraro closely including this dead-on commentary from Kos. Being a black woman, I feel I have a perspective that I'd love to share with Geraldine. I've gotten few breaks BECAUSE of my race or gender. Instead, I have often received opportunities DESPITE my race (in particular) or gender. Certainly I've lost more opportunities because of my race. Most middle class black people can tell you about the time (or 2 or 3) when they walked into an interview and the climate in the room changed, with the prospective employer visibly shocked that you are the candidate whose resume they were just considering. Those experiences are really awkward, yo, because everyone goes through the motions knowing the "nigger" ain't going to get hired. I've been grateful to the people who gave me a chance to show my stuff even when in some cases I could see that they really felt they were holding their breath and taking a chance.

Doesn't mean I haven't experienced sexism as well. It varies depending on one's line of work or industry. Still, the fact is that Barack Obama has won people over and created a movement not because of his race but despite it. People listen to his words, experience his vision and presence and vote for him despite what he looks like. Not because of it. They overcome their fears and suspicion to focus on the man, not the race. That's what has allowed him to transcend the "black candidate" box that Clinton surrogates keep trying to put him in.

I'm not ignoring the challenges that Hillary Clinton faces and all women in America can be proud of her achievements. Yet I found Ferraro's comments and defense of them deeply offensive. Why? Because she has discounted the many challenges that Barack Obama and any U.S. black person has to face on a regular basis. Do you have any idea how much self-confidence it takes to walk into a room alone and talk to a group of people who look different from you and represent a different culture, including a few who aren't entirely sure you're fully human and not some kind of giant talking monkey. I know a whole lot of African-Americans who can tell you just what that feels like. I find Earl Ofari Hutchinson's comments also deeply offensive and would like to have him fitted for a platinum handkerchief. The brother is wrong. And I recommend you check out dnA's recent post on Hutchinson and his, uh, qualifications for more on that.

Oh, She Just Hates Black Men

So I think it's safe to say that the Clintons may not be directly to blame for Geraldine Ferraro. Apparently her issues with black men are longstanding. Ben Smith points to Howie Kurtz reporting on the presidential primaries in 1988:

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."

If there's one thing racist white liberals and racist white conservatives can agree on, it's that black people have it easy in America.

Bipartisanship is a beautiful thing.

Maybe Rudy Giuliani and Geraldine Ferraro can get together and share New York war stories about how easy those stupid mool