Like many people, I was appalled by the reasons given by Senator Clinton for staying in the fight for the Democratic nomination. She actually invoked the prospect of assassination. She brought up the horror of RFK's assassination in June as a reason to stay in the race. While I'm convinced she would do nothing to promote such a horrific action, why has she raised RFK's assassination in this context? It is time for he to drop out of this race. She is behind and only horrific things could make her a real contender once again for the nomination. A horrific thought. Once again, Keith Olbermann of MSNBC said it best:
Sunday, May 25, 2008
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About Me
- Matthew Klempner
- San Francisco, California, United States
- I was born and raised in Ohio. I am a lifelong Catholic Christian who has always been interested in the big questions of life. I have a passion for learning especially Philosophy, Science, Religion, History and Culture. I graduated from the University of Toledo in 2001 with a B.A. in International Relations. I married my soul-mate, Jen in 2001 and we moved to rural Tanigumi-mura Japan where we taught English for 3 years. We moved to California and eventually made it to San Francisco, the city we love. I earned my Master's Degree in Education in 2005. I began volunteering for the Barack Obama campaign in March of 2007 and was eventually hired as a field organizer in my native state, Ohio. It was hard but rewarding work. I have recently returned to San Francisco and want to stay actively involved in politics and government.
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Is there a transcript of this response? It's taking too for this to download although I'd love to see the outcry to this latest fiasco.
You can read it here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24797758/
Hey Matt,
You must be really excited about Obama's upcoming victory. Congratulations on yours and the hard work of others in organizing his victory across the country.
Obama actually came to Bozeman the other day, and it was a great flyering opportunity for us as we work on the Yellowstone buffalo issue - I've posted a flyer on my blog about constructive ways Obama could help the Yellowstone buffalo situation.
A poll shows Obama up by 17 points in Montana for next Tuesday's primary, and there's not a Hillary sign to be found in Bozeman - though some of her supporters held signs on the street the other day.
Montana is not quite the "white"-est state in the country due to the large indigenous population, but it is the least African American. Interesting how the race wars seem to play out most in states where there are the most racially mixed populations. Still even here, Hillary is expected to do best in the smaller counties whereas Obama should clean up in the larger towns, especially Missoula.
Anyhow, I've secretly been rooting for Obama to beat Hillary, even though I still am definitely not a supporter of either candidate. As I said before, the one thing I can appreciate, though, about the Obama campaign is that he gives hope to the process of ground up grassroots organizing. I guess that's why I didn't bother to flyer when Bill Clinton was in Bozeman - figuring those most likely to get involved with direct participation in making change would be in the Obama crowd. And, though I hate to flyer, it was an empowering experience for me (I think I was right).
Anyhow, if you have a little time, please let your fellow Obama supporters know about Yellowstone's buffalo - where more have been killed this winter than at any time since the 19th century, where over half the herd (perhaps as many as 2/3 have died), and how the federal government is involved in this and has the power to pull out of the agreement which keeps this awful status quo in Yellowstone and surrounding areas going. I know it's never going to be a high priority issue, but it goes to the heart of the rationale for oppression, irrational borders, and the power of the few over the many - at the root of American history, as well.
Take care, and I hope that you are well.
Jim
PS As to the RFK comment, I was surprised that she made what we were all thinking she might be doing so explicit - only to discover she's been subtly injecting this into the campaign for some time. Very disgusting - even giving her the greatest benefit of the doubt, she had countless ways of making the same point without continuously raising the specter of such an awful thing. And, as some historians have noted, she wasn't even accurate in the way she made the point.
Also, unfortunately, there have been parallels made to what happened in the schism over black male suffrage and woman suffrage in the 1860s, which was a very dark chapter for both social movements. Unfortunately, those parallels are not there here in the same way - trivializing the realpolitik of the 1860s. I hope people will see that the historical oppressions of these groups are not to be fought anew by lifting up these particular and flawed individuals to a general principle. That would be again to trivialize (not to mention tokenize) a much greater social problem. Again, it seems to me Hillary has handled this much more poorly than Barack.
Thank you for your kind sentiments, Jim. I happen to know of more than a few in the Obama campaign community who are very concerned over what is happening with the Buffalo and the land-use rights fight associated with it. Believe me there is a lot of sympathy for the cause when people are informed. I will continue to spread the word as I continue my work with the campaign.
Let me preface by stating I am a complete OBAMA KOOL-AID DRINKER! ... the remarks by Billary, however, I do in my heart feel were said "unthinkingly" and in no way advocated the assassination of Senator Obama. God be with him and I can only pray there are not "nuts" out there on her side who would try to do such an act.
Yes, I agree as I stated - I don't think she would ever consciously or actively support or wish for anyone to be assassinated. But I question why she has brought it up so many times. It's at best impolitic. I think she hasn't come to grips with the fact that her words do matter and she will probably regret saying many of them once Obama is the nominee and people start using her words against him.
This episode just hit at the core belief that many people have - that she will say anything to get elected.
Hey Matt,
Thanks. By the way, did you ever see the movie "Death of a President" about a fictional assassination of Bush? It wasn't a very good movie, I didn't think (though it seemed to cover demonstrations and anarchist ones at that better than almost anything I have seen), but I was wondering what you thought of such a movie being made - is it a different sort of thing than what Hillary is doing because she has a much more vested interest in an assassination if it ever were to happen.
While I have heard of the movie, I have not seen it. Without seeing the context, it is difficult to judge the film. However, it does strike me as being in bad taste at least, since the murder of anyone is not something I'd like to see advocated. It is especially troubling considering our nation;s troubled past with leaders and candidates being assassinated or narrowly avoiding such tragedies.
Yes, I think the fact that Hillary would serve to gain something from such a tragedy gives her more reason to choose her words more carefully.
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