Jack & Jill Politics

Cross-posted at MyDD.com

My fortune cookie last night: “The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.”

Racism is rooted in ignorance. That is its only power it will ever have. Those who use racism to manipulate the masses will find a shrinking pool. That’s because the hip-hop generation isn’t just black. It’s all colors. We are the first generation in America that did not experience a segregated world. We see things differently. Even Strom Thurmond figured this out. Can the rest of the Republican party?

Just in time for Halloween — Jesus’ General ridicules the fear of miscegnation the RNC tried to exploit. Boo!

The big story this week: the negative ads Bob Corker is running against Harold Ford in the TN Senate race. Progressive blogs across a broad spectrum weighed in on the “bimbo” ad and the “tom-toms” ad — like Arianna Huffington, Jerome Armstrong, Steve Gilliard, Oliver Willis and others here, here, here and here. Corker must be seriously desperate if he and the RNC have to resort to some people’s fear of “race-mixing”. It’s so bad that people in other countries are talking about it. Tennessee Guerilla Women has the international coverage. FYI, for minorities, it may be interesting to explore but ultimately it really doesn’t matter if the racism is Southern or Northern-flavored. Whether it’s overt or covert. It’s binary — on or off. It’s not a matter of degrees. It’s more like the proverbial iceberg: the part you can’t see is usually a lot bigger than the part you can.

Racism is like smoking. What was cool in the 1920s and 30s is increasingly uncool today.

It’s important to call out racism when we see it. Even racists like Kerry Healy with her “Inmates for Deval” cadre (consisting naturally of her own campaign volunteers) don’t want to be tagged with the R word. Except for the hard-core white supremacists of course. Racism just doesn’t play well in the suburbs anymore.

In other news:

*** There was a lot of talk early in the week about Barack Obama’s possible bid for president in 2008. Many white bloggers and journalists showed admirable restraint in discussing his chances in the presidential race without discussing his race. Black bloggers focused a little more closely on how Obama’s race might impact him especially in light of the experience of other African-Americans who have tossed their hat in the ring, most notably Earl Ofari Hutchinson on Huff Post.

From my perspective, it would be a Clash of the Titans — Obama/Oprah vs Bill/Hillary. Our first black president vs. the next black president. Conventional wisdom says Obama is too young, too green to withstand the Clinton machine. That may be true. Still, don’t count Oprah out. Forbes ranked the world’s 100 most powerful women in 2006 and um, all-mighty Oprah is ranked a few notches higher than Hillary. Fortune ranks Oprah in the top 10 most powerful women in business. In the entire world. Reality check: Political nerds might have been really interested in Obama’s Meet the Press appearance. But all anyone around my watercooler and at my kitchen table were talking about was Michelle and Barack Obama on Oprah’s show. Can Oprah go from Imagemaker (singlehandedly turning around Madonna’s adoption debacle) to Kingmaker? We’ll see.

*** Speaking of Virginia, Doug Wilder, the nation’s first African-American governor, endorsed Jim Webb this week. This is a pretty big deal because the mayor of Richmond doesn’t just endorse anyone.

“I think he can win, and I think he will win,” Wilder said.
(Source: “>Daily Press)

That’s tough luck for George “Mailbox” Allen who was also competing with Webb for Wilder’s precious endorsement in a tight race.

Wilder said Wednesday that he had called Allen earlier in the day to give him the news. Wilder made sure Allen understood that he agreed with Webb that the election is a referendum on the Bush administration.

“I made it as clear as I could to him, it is not a personal decision,” Wilder said. “I said to Senator Allen, I don’t want to see two more years of absolute control by Republicans owning both of the houses (of Congress), because it will send the wrong message to the president that what he’s doing is right.”

Memo to Webb campaign: make some campaign ads that highlight Wilder’s thumbs up ASAP. Webb will need a strong black turnout to win and this could be the boost he needs to gain momentum. Wilder has pledged to help Webb’s GOTV efforts. Republicans gnash their teeth.

*** Quiet as it’s been kept, Indian tribes have been pouring money into AZ Republican warchests and Republicans like Sen. Jon Kyl (R) aren’t talking about it(Source: African-American Opinion via Angry Indian):

The spending is part of a nationwide increase in tribal giving. In the last 10 years, tribes have donated about $26.7 million to federal campaigns, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Yet The [East Valley] Tribune reports.
couldn’t get any of the politicians from Arizona to talk on the record about the money they have taken from tribes. Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R) answered a few questions after being “cornered” at an event “but then said he had to leave and did not answer requests for an interview to discuss his tribal donations in detail,” the paper reported. (Source: Indianz.com)