RandySF
RandySF's Journal“Vagina voter”: Witnessing the sexism hurled at Hillary in ’08 and the assumptions made about her.
illary’s presence and words were a powerful message to girls and women, and that is why she didn’t quit. And as a mother of a daughter, that is one of the reasons I didn’t quit her. To be sure, Hillary was fighting to win, but she also knew that we needed the memory and the images to move forward for those who came after her. Like her Beijing speech, she was ahead of the curve, but this was a rougher road. The accusations that were hurled at Hillary were hurled at all of us. We were all called “bitter clingers,” “vagina voters,” “working class,” “old,” and “bitches” right along with her and suffered the same dismissal as she did. And some of the people who threw out those slurs were feminists.
Hillary’s 2008 campaign is now a snapshot that is a part of our collective cultural memory from past events that we all share. These memories help us form our identities as individuals and as citizens. Boys and men have the totality of presidential cultural memory reflected to them in the United States: Franklin D. Roosevelt holding up his hat, Dwight Eisenhower with arms held aloft, and John F. Kennedy with Marilyn Monroe. The history of male presidents is the gendered bedrock of power upon which we form our national identity, and women, without similar memories, sense their lack of power.
I grieved when Hillary lost the nomination. The night after she won in South Dakota, one of the last primary states in a campaign already lost, I dreamt about her.
In the dream, Hillary was in the White House. I was with many women in a room waiting to meet with her. When it was my turn, Hillary stood in front of me. I held out my arms as if to receive something. She placed several Middle Eastern shawls and fabrics into my empty arms. I knew women had made them. I took them.
Several years later after the election, I finished my film about the women’s liberation movement and started to speak about how important it is to remember that movement and include it in our cultural memory. If we had had a cultural memory about female leaders in 2008, Hillary may not have been seen as an interloper in the male Oval Office.
http://www.salon.com/2015/11/14/vagina_voter_witnessing_the_sexism_hurled_at_hillary_in_08_and_the_assumptions_made_about_her_supporters_changed_my_life/
In debate after Paris attacks, Clinton earns the advantage on foreign policy
As a former senator and secretary of State, Clinton spoke with fluency about the contradictory puzzle and complicated players in the Middle East, and the tensions there that already have spilled into violence on the European continent. She recounted her experience helping downtown New York recover from the Sept. 11, 2001, attack (weirdly, however, it was in response to a criticism of her closeness with Wall Street donors).
When asked to recount a crisis that had tested her, she dramatically retold the story of advising President Obama to go after Osama bin Laden in 2011 despite concerns by many in the administration that the mission could fail. And, she noted, she offered the advice without consulting anyone, even her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
It was that question, more than any other, that demonstrated Clinton’s advantage once the focus turned to foreign policy. By contrast, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley recounted the daily tribulations of a mayor and state executive, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders told of a veterans' bill, one in which he was not successful in achieving his initial goal and had to negotiate a compromise.
Indeed, discomfort on the part of Sanders and O'Malley was palpable from the start. After a moment of silence for the victims in Paris, the candidates moved to opening statements. Speaking before Clinton, Sanders jumped quickly into his familiar arguments about a "rigged economy," a "corrupt campaign finance system" and the need for millions of Americans to stand and say that "enough is enough."
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-prez-clinton-democratic-debate-foreign-policy-strength-20151115-story.html
Sanders 'Out of His Element' in last night's debate.
It seemed that Sanders could sense he was out of his element, that he’d been caught flat-footed, when he was asked about the terrorist attack in Paris. He condemned the atrocity and pledged to “rid the world of ISIS” with the help of the rest of the world, and immediately pivoted back to his safe zone: Super PACs! “Millionaires and billionaires”! Climate change!
His answer to the Paris question came out so disjointed it was almost a non-sequitur, and it did nothing tonight to rebut the notion that he’s more of a left-wing protest candidate than a serious contender for Commander-in-Chief.
For her part, Clinton’s answers about foreign policy were not exactly stellar. Several served as a reminder why the breadth of her experience—her time in the White House, the Senate, and running the State Department—has tended to cut both ways.
Moderator John Dickerson asked Clinton a pointed question about whether her policy in Libya failed to take into account the lessons from the war in Iraq—i.e., to answer the question, 'Do we have an answer for the day after?”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/11/15/no-one-won-at-the-democratic-debate-but-sanders-and-o-malley-really-lost.html
How Bernie Sanders Lost the Debate Before the Debate
Before the Democratic debate even began Saturday night, Bernie Sanders was losing. A story, first reported on Yahoo News, began widely circulating that a top aide to the Vermont Senator had vigorously protested CBS’ decision to focus more on foreign policy in the wake of the Paris attacks on a conference call.
It was tailor-made to make Sanders look bad. And Sanders’ aides say that’s because it was “fabricated” and their account was backed up Saturday by a Democratic National Committee official who was also on the call, along with representatives for Sanders, front-runner Hillary Clinton and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.
Sanders aide Mark Longabaugh said it is true that he argued with CBS about opening and closing statements, which he views as vital to a candidate who is not as well-known as Clinton and who is running an issues-based campaign. But he said the claim that he objected to a foreign policy focus, which came from a rival campaign, was bogus.
“The only bone of contention was, were you going to have closing statement and original opening statement which we agreed to? The rest of it was all baloney,” said Sanders aide Mark Longabaugh. “Any story that implied we were not fully prepared and ready to engage on foreign policy or Paris strategy in any way is just not true.”
http://time.com/4113762/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-argument/
Josh Marshall: A win for Hillary
his struck me as a surprisingly substantive debate - not just compared to the Republican debates, a low bar, but the earlier Democratic one too. A hard hitting and spirited exchange on national security and ISIS, with some real digging into the backstory of the invasion of Iraq, the final withdrawal of American troops, etc. Then a similar exchange on banks and the financial sector - though someone explaining what Glass–Steagall was might have helped. The fact that the debate about whether commercial banks should also do investment banking still goes under the rubric of a 30s era piece of legislation tells you a lot about the difference between Democratic and Republican politics.
As I said, there was less focus and intensity as the debate moved on to policing, Black Lives Matter, health care, etc. I think that's because the divisions simply aren't as clear. Secondarily, the candidates seemed to draw back from the intensity of the first hour. On balance, I'd say it's a win for Hillary Clinton - not because she necessarily did better than Sanders but because she's now ahead and I did not see anything happen that looks likely to change that dynamic.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/it-s-a-wrap--2
Hillary holds 21-point leads in New Hampshire (non-internet) poll.
Hilary 46%
Bernie 25%
O'Malley 3%
http://gravismarketing.com/polling-and-market-research/current-new-hampshire-polling-2/
Reports: Sanders Aide Throws 'A Fit' After Revised Debate Focus On Paris
An aide to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) got into a heated argument with CBS representatives on a Saturday morning conference call after the network decided to alter the focus of the debate in light of the Friday terrorist attacks in Paris, according to reports from Yahoo News and CNN.
Sanders strategist Mark Longabaugh began arguing with officials from CBS when they began to discuss a new focus on national security and foreign policy, an aide with a rival Democratic campaign told Yahoo News.
"It was a little bit of a bizarre scene. The Sanders representative, you know, really laid into CBS and basically … kind of threw, like, a little bit of a fit and said, ‘You are trying to turn this into a foreign policy debate. That’s not what any of us agreed to. How can you change the terms of the debate, you know, on the day of the debate. That’s not right,'" the staffer told Yahoo.
The staffer with the rival Democratic campaign told Yahoo News that CBS executives on the call assured Longabaugh that the debate would not entirely focus on the Paris attacks.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bernie-sanders-cbs-debate-changes
Sanders Takes A Swipe At O'Mally On Gun Control: Baltimore Isn't Very Safe
en. Bernie Sanders checked after Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley touted his record gun control in the state, reminding the governor that Baltimore is hardly “one of the safest cities in America.”
O’Malley was responding to a question about his record on gun control during Saturday’s Democratic presidential debate, saying he passed comprehensive gun safety legislation that included provisions mandating background checks and a ban on assault weapons.
“We got it done in my state by leading with principle, and that’s what we need to do as a country,” the Maryland governor finished.
Sanders cut in to check O’Malley’s framing on the reforms, saying: “With all due respect, I think it’s fair to say Baltimore is not now one of the safest cities in America.”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bernie-sanders-martin-omalley-baltimore
Bernie Sanders Barely Spoke About the Paris Attacks During His Opening Debate Remarks
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders quickly pivoted from the Paris attacks back to his domestic policy-focused stump speech at the start of Saturday night’s Democratic debate.
After a debate introduction began with a moment of silence, CBS debate moderator John Dickerson asked the candidates to comment on Friday night’s attacks, which left more than 129 dead.
Sanders said he was “shocked” and “disgusted” by the attacks, for which ISIS terrorists have claimed responsibility, and vowed that the U.S. would lead the world to “rid our planet of this barbarous organization.” But immediately thereafter shifted back to his domestic policy.
“I’m running for president because,” Sanders said, “what I hear is people’s concerned that the economy we have is a rigged economy.”
His campaign, the Vermont Senator said, is about a “political revolution.” He also did not change his previous statements that climate change is the greatest threat to national security.
Before the debate, the Sanders campaign argued with CBS about the format of the debate, with operatives from a rival campaign claiming the argument was in part about the shift to foreign policy—a claim the campaign denied.
http://time.com/4113452/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-opening-remarks/
Bernie Sanders Would Really Prefer Not to Discuss the War on Terror Right after Paris Attack
Roughly 24 hours after several terrorist attacks in Paris left at least 129 people dead and 200 injured, the three remaining Democrat presidential candidates took the stage for a debate; its first segment focusing on the threat of ISIS and al-Qaeda. Bernie Sanders, whose candidacy focuses on income inequality and money in politics, did an admirable—but notable—job dodging the topic of global terrorism.
When CBS moderator John Dickinson asked Sanders the inevitable first question—why are you running for president?—the Vermont senator acknowledged the attack: “Well, John, let me concur with you and with all Americans who are shocked and disgusted by what we saw in Paris yesterday. Together, leading the world, this country will rid our planet of this barbarous organization called ISIS.”
Sanders was in a difficult political position: as a candidate who is decidedly not in favor of expanding U.S. military operations, he had to try to acknowledge that he understood the threat of attacks like those in Paris without appearing a hawkish war advocate. That’s why he followed his one-line acknowledgment of the Paris attacks with . . . this:
I'm running for president because as I go around this nation, I talk to a lot of people, and what I hear is people's concern that the economy we have is a rigged economy. People are working longer hours for lower wage, and almost all of the new income and wealth goes to the top 1 percent. And then on top of that, we’ve got a corrupt campaign finance system in which millionaires and billionaires are pouring huge sums of money into super PACs heavily influencing the political process. What my campaign is about is a political revolution. Millions of people standing up and saying, “Enough is enough. Our government belongs to all of us and not just the hand full of billionaires.”
Soon afterwards, Dickinson brought up Sanders’ belief that climate change was the biggest threat to America, which Sanders doubled down on: “In fact, climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism. And if we do not get our act together and listen to what the scientists say, you're going to see countries all over the world—this is what the C.I.A. says—they’re going to be struggling over limited amounts of water, limited amounts of land to grow their crops ask you're going to see all kinds of international conflict.”
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/11/bernie-sanders-democratic-debate-paris-terror
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Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit Area, MI
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