Jack & Jill Politics

Woo wee. Rikyrah asked me to post that piece over to Daily Kos, and I did it knowing the reaction folks would have. Predictably, most of the comments reacted to my “call for violence,” and I’ve learned in the past that metaphors don’t work well in the dkos diary environment. You can check out the comments yourself.

I’ve been sitting on a lot of rage about HRC’s tactics, and it just all poured out this morning. Being a part of this JJP community has helped because I know I’m not alone, and I’m not crazy :) Yall really do give a brotha strength.

Here’s what I posted as a response, and I figured my fam should see it as well:

thanks all for your comments.

yes, i was very angry when i posted this.

i am still angry. the insistence on her part that she can grab these delegates and go bothers me. i’m also carrying around a lot of anger over her campaign tactics which have generally not been reflected in the obama campaign.

no i won’t actually resort to violence. metaphors don’t work well here at dkos, and i’ve learned that in the past but risked it anyway. to those who thought i really wanted to set the city of denver on fire, i apologize. the ability to communicate is key and words are very powerful. i know i’ve alienated some folks with this post, and i have a small amount of regret over that. but i also know that it was very difficult for me to express my rage over HRC’s audacity without too much profanity (and even there i failed).

when I said we are powerful i meant that, and violence is a pretty weak display of power when considering the other, more creative tools all people have at their disposal.

this post was not meant as an endorsement of mccain nor an indication that i plan to vote for him.

it was also not a “if hillary wins, this is what i will do.” it was specifically about michigan and florida, but especially michigan where she was the only one on the ballot. if obama tried the same stunt, i’d write, call and harass his campaign too. thus the title was about those delegates not her ultimate victory. if she can pull it off, i won’t be happy but i won’t physically destroy people and their property and little woodland critters.

the additional point i was trying to make, about the African-American vote was not an attempt to compare hardships with women or any other group. i’m just tired of feeling held hostage. I think hillary could have made some much better choices in this campaign that were tough but without being so offensive and dismissive of this particular group of voters. there are ways to go negative, but pitting blacks against latinos or minimizing obama as “the black” candidate should not be on the table.

on jack and jill, many commenters and some of the bloggers have said they won’t support hillary specifically because of this. because it sets a bad precedent for future black candidates. it is not random rage but rather considered-judgment about the future and its prospects. often people reply (as wolfson did) and say, “well, the blacks will come back in the end.”

if we do, then we’re rewarding an extreme level of negativity and possibly sabotaging future black presidents. our blogger rikyrah has been the chief proponent of this line of thinking, but i pretty much agree with her.

critics come back and say, “but mccain is so terrible.” possible. even probable, but i wanted to put “terrible” into the context of some african american voters, at least from my own experience and perspective.

abusing me then telling me i have to take it because the other master will abuse me more is a terrible position to put me in. it’s ugly, and it’s unnecessary. it’s something the candidate i support has not done. he has not sought to sow seeds of division among women nor exploited their fears in such a calculated manner. not even close to what mark penn & company have been up to. there is more honor in obama’s approach, and much of what Hillary has done or sanctioned lacks honor.

sorry it took me so long to reply. i’ve been driving all day from dallas to austin in an ice storm and have not intentionally been ignoring the conversation