Clinton & Obama

When the Democratic Party primary season began I was a Hillary Clinton supporter. After Obama's victory in the Iowa caucuses, I started paying attention to him. Clinton's victory in the New Hampshire primary found me still supporting her but not as much.

It was the injection of race into the South Carolina primary by Bill Clinton that made me anti-Clinton, and my antipathy to her has only grown since. In the recent West Virginia primary she became the Great White Hope, saying in not so subtle ways that white working class people will not vote for a black man to be president. What Hillary Clinton has failed to mention is that only 35% of the white working class voted for Bill Clinton, that neither Al Gore 2000 or John Kerry in 2004 carried the white working class. The white working class is not going to vote for the Democratic candidate, white or black.

But this is only one of the many examples of the dishonest and pandering campaign Hillary Clinton has run. Equally disappointing is that her ideas are old. She's 60, and she sounds like she hasn't had a new thought in the past 40 years. I say this as someone who is 9 years older than she is, so I know an old idea when I hear it. I listen to her and all I hear is the same ol' tired politics I've been hearing since Richard Nixon was president. If by some miracle she becomes the Democratic Party nominee for president, Americans will have to choose between Old and Older.

Even worse, however, is her pandering to white racism has made us a far more racially divided nation than we were before her march to the White House was stopped by Barak Obama. I cannot ever forgive her for that.

TODAY'S WORD

Bedrabble (bed-RAB-ul): To befoul with rain and mud

There have been sunny days when I've felt bedrabbled!

julius.lester@gmail.com

The Oxford English Dictionary

"I use dictionaries as a reference to life. I see the dictionary as a kind of poem about everything - it's every story waiting to be told....Through language we make ourselves up. And if it's a reflection of us, it's also the means through which we become ourselves and share ourselves. So I suppose this massive dictionary is a sculpture of us somehow."

Fiona Banner, Another Magazine, Spring/Summer 2008

TODAY'S WORD

Pingle (PING-ul) - to nibble or pick at food; eat with little appetite.

How I could have used this word when my children were little. "Stop pingling!"

julius.lester@gmail.com

“Listening was her art, as challenging and beautiful and impossible to master as any art worthy of the name.”

Breakable You by Brian Moore

TODAY'S WORD

Belamour (bel-a-MOR): A glance of love

A few days ago it occurred to me that if Barack Obama is the Democratic Party presidential nominee, there are some blacks who may campaign for McCain. I know that sounds ridiculous, but hear me out. The blacks in this category are those who have built their lives around seeing all white people as racist. These are the people who, if anything goes wrong in their lives, it's the fault of "racist white people." I sympathize with them because when a white store clerk is rude to me, I don't know if it's because she or he is having a bad day, or if they are being rude because I'm black. If you're white and a clerk is rude to you, you know it's not personal. If you're black, you're never sure. So while I understand blacks who see racism everywhere, I don't care enough about what an underpaid and harassed store clerk might think of me to get upset.

But for those blacks who see racism on the face of every white person, they are going to be in big trouble if Obama becomes president. Think about it. There is no way he can be elected president with getting a majority of the white votes. If the majority of white people vote for him, to any black person who accuses them of being racist they can say, "I'm not racist! I voted for Obama!" And for that matter, whites who didn't vote for Obama can say they did in order to claim non-racist status. The day after Obama is inaugurated, there won't be a racist white person in America! And that will be very confusing because racism will be as alive as it ever was.

However, if on Election Day you notice that John McCann got elected because he received the majority of the black vote, you'll understand. There were simply too many blacks who wouldn't know who they were if there weren't racist whites to hate. With John McCann in the White House, the identities of these blacks will be safe and secure.

Hmmmm. It just occurred to me that white racists will vote for McCann to keep their identities safe and secure.

It's obvious -- McCann wins in a landslide!

© 2008 by Julius Lester

TODAY'S WORD

Barr (bar): To utter an elephant's cry.

Which is what black and white racists will do if Obama becomes president.

You may have noticed that the look of the blog is changing. I got bored with the previous look. I want to add a comment feature to the blog so readers can comment
directly, but, for reasons I can't fathom, the comment feature is not appearing, even though I have checked all the right boxes blogger.com indicates. Equally, the little envelope enabling people to e-mail me directly has disappeared. If anyone has any suggestions as to what I should do, I'm listening.

"“You have to be honest. You have to try to move through this life with integrity, even when you don’t want to.”

Brian Morton, A Window Across the River

TODAY'S WORD

Eumoirous (yoo-MOY-rus): Lucky in being happily innocent and good.

My wife and I have been together 17 years, and I finally found the one word that describes her.

"Indifference to the sublime wonder of living is the root of sin."

Abraham Joshua Heschel, In Search of God and Man

TODAY'S WORD

Emacity (ee-MAS-i-tee) - An itch to buy.

The U.S. economy depends on its citizens being in a constant state of emacity.

"Truth is often gray, and deceit is full of splendor. One must hunger fiercely after Truth to be able to cherish it."

Abraham Joshua Heschel, A Passion for Truth

TODAY'S WORD

Viraginity (vir-a-JIN-i-tee) - Masculinity in a woman

And if you think I'm thinking of a certain person who should stop running for the Democratic presidential nomination AND stop wearing ugly pants suits, you're right.