Prometheus 6

I think "make the ask" means that he panders to her.

But you know what, honestly, all these Hillary hold-outs, I want them to vote for McCain. Then, when Obama wins, they should keep holding out.

I've known for a long time that Americans can be ignorant. But this is entirely a new low.

beg her forgiveness.

you know the routine.

These white women are not aspiring to be black men. They are finally expressing the huge contempt they hold for black people period. The first rule of white club is that no one talks about white club. But their psycho-reality says that any position of power a black person holds, is one usurped. Quite despicable, actually. I congratulate my fellow duskies on their remarkable humanity in the midst of all this pathology.

I congratulate my fellow duskies on their remarkable humanity in the midst of all this pathology.

I think in terms of in-groups defined by race rather than race.

The following is excerpted from an article that was written by Freda Kirchwey and originally published in the March 2, 1921 edition of The Nation

http://www.thenation.com/doc/19210302/kirchwey

Women won the right to vote in 1919, but African-American women continue to be disenfranchised. At the National Women's Party convention in 1921, their pleas for representation were rebuffed by suffragist leader Alice Paul. The Nation's outraged correspondent Freda Kirchway reports.

"The efforts--wholly unsuccessful--of the representatives of the colored women would form a tragic chapter of the same story. A delegation of sixty women sent by colored women's organizations in fourteen States arrived in Washington several days before the convention. They requested an interview with Alice Paul so that they might take up with her the question of the disfranchisement of the women of their race. They were told Miss Paul was too busy to see them. They said they would wait till she had time. Finally, grudgingly, she yielded. The colored women presented their case in the form of a dignified memorial--which read as follows:

"We have come here as members of various organizations and from different sections representing the five million colored women of this country. We are deeply appreciative of the heroic devotion of the National Woman's Party to the women's suffrage movement and of the tremendous sacrifices made under your leadership in securing the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.

"We revere the names of the pioneers to whom you will do honor while here, not only because they believed in the inherent rights of women, but of humanity at large, and gave themselves to the fight against slavery in the United States.
The world has moved forward in these seventy years and the colored women of this country have been moving with it. They know the value of the ballot, if honestly used, to right the wrongs of any class. Knowing this, they have also come today to call your attention to the flagrant violations of the intent and purposes of the Susan B. Anthony Amendment in the elections of 1920. These violations occurred in the Southern States, where is to be found the great mass of colored women, and it has not been made secret that wherever white women did not use the ballot, it was counted worthwhile to relinquish it in order that it might be denied colored women.

"Complete evidence of violations of the Nineteenth Amendment could be obtained only by Federal investigation. There is, however, sufficient evidence available to justify a demand for such an inquiry. We are handing you herewith a pamphlet with verified cases of the disfranchisement of our women.

"The National Woman's Party stands in the forefront of the organizations that have undergone all the pains of travail to bring into existence the Nineteenth Amendment. We can not then believe that you will permit this amendment to be so distorted in its interpretation that it shall lose its power and effectiveness. Five million women in the United States can not be denied their rights without all the women of the United States feeling the effect of that denial. No women are free until all are free.
Therefore, we are assembled to ask that you will use your influence to have the convention of the National Woman's Party appoint a special committee to ask Congress for an investigation of the violations of the Susan B. Anthony Amendment in the elections of 1920.

"Miss Paul was indifferent to this appeal and resented the presence of the delegation. Their chance of being heard at the convention was gone. A Southern organizer told the one active supporter of the colored women--a white woman and a delegate from New York--that the Women's Party was pledged not to raise the race issue in the South; that this was the price it paid for ratification. But no such sinister motive is necessary to explain the treatment of the colored delegation; they were simply an interruption, an obstacle to the smooth working of the machine. Their leading members were not allowed to ride in the elevators of the Hotel Washington where the convention was held, until finally they made a stand for their rights. And only by the use of tactics bordering on Alice Paul's own for vigor and persistence, did their spokesman--the delegate from New York--get a moment to present a resolution in their behalf-a resolution which was promptly defeated and which left the question precisely where it stood.

"The attitude of Alice Paul and her supporters toward these disturbers of the peace--Negro women and birth control advocates alike--was the attitude of all established authorities. 'Why do these people harass us?' asked Miss Paul. 'Why do they want to spoil our convention?' The answer, that never occurred to her, was this: 'For the very same reason that made you disturb the peace and harass the authorities in your peculiarly effective and irritating way: because they want to further the cause they believe in.'

You give PUMAs more weight than they are entitled to.

Maybe, maybe not. I believe there is a pattern of behavior here that cannot be put on the backs of white males alone.

I can't help but think that if these PUMA folks were truly about electing a female president, then they would see fit to shift their support to the Green Party's TWO female ticket. Talk about making history!

I assume they can't see Green because the candidates are Brown...

Pdub -

I hear you but Cynthia and Roberta ain't even close to ready for prime time. Amy Goodman at Democracy Now gave them an uninterrupted hour to talk and I found them embarrassing to listen to after 15 minutes.

What was embarrassing? I didn't hear that one, ptcruiser, but what was it that turned you off? What they said, how they said it... both? I ask because when I first saw Clemente speak (and it was only once, and it was on a web video), I admit I bristled a bit at her "street" tone and inflection. Yes, she even said "aksed" once (to her credit, I think I saw her flinch slighly when she realized it slipped out!), but I kept listening and darned if she didn't school me a bit on Puerto Rico politics. Which is easy to do, I also have to admit.

Their lack of depth and the narrowness of their critique about the domestic and international problems we're facing and what we have to do to begin to turn things around. In this respect, they don't differ from most mainstream politicians but I expect better from folks who are on the left and running for office on the left.

Pdub - Here is the link. You can judge for yourself.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/21/first_all_women_of_color_presidential

whoa... I honestly had to stop watching that performance... "ain't even close to ready for prime time" is right on the money. Thanks for the link, ptcruiser. Um... guess I'll go have a beer...

Pdub -

Yeah, listening to them made me sad. If the Green Party ever held the potential for actually challenging the Democrats from the left, the emergence of McKinney and Clemente as the party's presidential and vice-presidential nominees does not bode well for its future.

Upon further reflection, though, I have to admit that I have seen horrible public speaking and on-air performances from many, many politicians. Heck, I grew up in Marion Barry World.

I also have to somewhat embarrassingly admit that I watch The Daily Show with more frequency and interest than Democracy Now, and they features endless clips of primetimers clowning themselves on the regular.

McKinney's and Clemente's poor showing with Amy Goodman is lamentable personally because I identify with them. After reading the Green Party platform, I see that we share many of the same values, so it's tough to watch them mess up like that. Sure, I wish they were more polished, but I'm willing to let them be who they are and reach who they'll reach. Roberta Clemente, in my mind, stands to become quite an inspiration to several generations of women and men that may have felt disenfranchised from the system.

Still, for this show they were clearly unprepared and seemed to resort to extended improv to sort of clumsily plow their way to their points. Maybe they thought they were freestylin?

Their goal isn't to win. It's to get 5% of the vote so they can be deemed a major party.

Whatever their goal may have been they should have better prepared themselves for the interview out of respect for their constituents, Democracy Now and themselves. It's like thinking you can play jazz because you have a lot of musical chops.