…the weekend begins! Happy Friday.
The poem of the week is ready for your perusal, and John’s column will be up here Sunday as always.
I’ve got plans to see about this DNC Rules Committee thing tomorrow. I intend to hang out and play a rousing game of Spot the Disenfranchised. (Fyi, it looks like the entire meeting’s going to be streamed online here and covered on C-SPAN.)
Have a good one.
The last thing I want to do is get into a pissing match with others online. Having covered this world, I know how quickly the petty disagreements escalate and how easily they get blown way out of proportion.
However…
I’m finding out some female bloggers are taking me to task for claiming I haven’t seen evidence of sexism in the current Democratic primary. And even reading through Melissa’s collection of alleged examples (She’s got more than 100. I checked out a few), I’m not convinced. (quick note: Melissa may not remember, but we’ve had really good rapport in the past. I’ve got absolutely no beef.)
Perhaps my skin’s a little thicker than most when it comes to gender-related issues. I’ve always been more of a guys’ girl and tend to think if someone thinks I’m less (less capable, less savvy, less intelligent) because I’m female, then that’s his problem, not mine.
Yes, guys say dumb sh*t about women all the time. I’m not saying that dumb men haven’t said dumb things about Senator Clinton throughout this primary season. But don’t mistake anti-Clinton sentiment for sexism. There is a distinction. The Clintons – for a variety of reasons – elicit strong emotion – both good and bad. Much of what’s being pointed out as sexist – discriminatory based on gender – is better defined as anti-Clinton than anti-woman.
Women often have to work harder to get half the credit. We still make less coin on the dollar in salary. We don’t hold equal seats in government or in corporate America. But, we’re making strides every day, and now, we’re running for President. That said, I think it does women a disservice to play the sexism card at this stage in the game in this particular circumstance. Senator Clinton is a tough cookie. She’s proven to be a solid politician and a strong Senator. She made an admirable run at the top political spot in the nation.
But she got beat by a guy who, frankly, is turning out to be an extraordinary candidate. Against anyone else, Clinton probably would have won as easily as she had expected. There were a lot – A LOT – of voters on her side at the start of this thing. Myself included. I wasn’t convinced Obama was more than hype and doubted he had the experience and qualifications to be President. But then his message started to resonate, and Clinton started to get scared. Her team doled out some rotten advice, and she became everything we’re tired of in Washington. The politician who lies, who twists, who spins. Male or female…it’s ugly. And after 8 years of Bush/Cheney et al…we’re done.
Neanderthal men who think women belong in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant are not a large enough demographic to be holding Senator Clinton back from clinching this nomination, and claiming that’s her downfall is both disingenuous and bad form. Save the fight for when it matters. When there is real discrimination based on sex. If anything, the press has been infinitely generous with Clinton – keeping her in this race long after the math proved Obama’s delegate lead insurmountable. Again, she’s not losing because she’s a woman. She’s losing because she got bad campaign advice and ran with it.
If you listened to my podcast commentary, I made it very clear I was excited by the idea of the first female President. I just don’t think Clinton’s turned out to be that female. That doesn’t make me naive or a traitor to my gender. If anything, it does us some justice. One of us is going to make an exceptional Commander-in-Chief someday.
I just want my President to be someone I can look up to and be proud of as a human being. Gender aside, Clinton is not that person.
p.s. Before anyone goes batsh*t crazy over the Spice Girls reference, it’s a goof. Get over it.
“This year, we will more than triple the number of blogs credentialed to witness history in the making.” – Aaron Myers, Director of Online Communications for the DNCC
I know the DNCC took some flack after announcing the 55 blogs that would be credentialed to sit with their state/territory delegations on the convention floor. A lot of the controversy stemmed from the fact that the State Blogger Corps wasn’t particularly diverse. (There were also some questionable choices allegedly picked because of political connections). Seems the DNCC’s trying harder this time around:
The credentialed blogs represent a large and diverse collection of voices and perspectives. The pool includes blogs covering national, state and local politics and those representing a variety of groups including the African American, Latino, Asian American, Native American and LGBT communities. Blogs focusing on youth issues, women’s issues, labor issues, disability issues as well as those focusing on the environment and communities of faith will also be credentialed among many others.
Here‘s the list.
Regardless of whether or not you agree with all the convention picks, this step to include so many online voices is excellent news for the world of new media as a whole:
Altogether, the DNCC will credential more than 120 blogs for the Convention and many more individuals will blog the Convention via credentials issued through the U.S. Congressional Press Galleries.
We order Thai food using my cellphone number.
The delivery guy calls John’s cell to say he’s downstairs.
What’s that about?
Just another thread in the tangled web of mystery that is our Thai delivery guy.
American Idol‘s done. House wrapped up last week. Top Chef is winding down. I watched all seven seasons of The West Wing in order from beginning to end.
After tonight – and the season finale of Lost – my TV dance card will be fairly free.
Now would be a good time for that job thing to happen.
note from me: John did an interesting analysis of the Democratic Primary race and the media narrative as it unfolded. He’s agreed to let me post it here. So without further ado:
The Media Versus the Math
Clinton supporters may cry foul over the media’s supposed Obama crush, but the media’s real bias has been towards sensationalizing and drawing out the race. To demonstrate this bias, I’ve listed the contests chronologically along with Obama’s margin of victory for the night (in delegates) and a running total of his delegate lead over Clinton.
As you’ll see, the night’s media story rarely matched the results. The media tended to focus on momentum and who won each state (no matter the margin) while ignoring the one metric that mattered—the delegate math. Super Tuesday, reported as a Clinton win, was actually a narrow Obama victory. And remember Clinton’s big night in Ohio and Texas? It was, in fact, a smaller victory than Obama’s was in Maine, effectively ending any chance she had of winning. The media, at least pretending to be oblivious, continued to push the notion of it being a horse race until finally—and very suddenly—calling it over after North Carolina and Indiana.
In case you’re wondering, these delegate shifts were known, almost exactly, the day after each primary.
totals compiled and calculated using numbers from the Results Center on BarackObama.com
“Jacki also goes off on two great tirades about Hillary’s assassination comments and the GOP taking political advantage of the Holocaust.” – John Aravosis
Ha! Hear it here.
Plus more of me on Clinton here.
So I don’t know anything about PoliticsOne or Roger Stone so I’ve got questions out to some peeps who might. In the interim, I will add the following thought:
Um, yeah, right.
Miss Carol Rome – the “girlfriend” in question – turned up last night on “The Real Housewives of New York City.” The episode was a Lost Footage hour, and Rome’s Hamptons soiree made the cut even though she wasn’t actually a housewife ever mentioned or featured on the show. Coincidence? Sure. Convenient? Absolutely. Can’t hurt to raise her profile early and often. (Not that hoards of Republican voters are watching Bravo, but I recognized the name and connected the dots. I can’t be the only one.)
It’s possible my gaydar needs calibrating, and Captain Supertan is straight, but seemingly accidental antics – like an elevator make-out tape – and Crist suddenly making the rounds with a wife girlfriend to “prove” the governor likes girls is making me more skeptical, not less.
UPDATE: I forgot. There was this too.
Just to be clear – I’m not trying to give Crist a hard time. I’d be thrilled if he were gay. I’d prefer it. Go him! He’s a popular politician, and if he just happened to be gay, it’d be more ammo in the fight against close-minded homophobes – evidence that sexual preference does not a good or bad human make.
I’m just not sure this growing over-denial strategy is the best or most believable course of action for the possible VP pick. It’s just going to make some work even harder to dig up evidence to the contrary. And if any exists, I trust that those who really want to find it absolutely will.
It’s a shock this guy’s still single? Really?
I’m not married. I don’t have kids. So far be it from me to chastise anyone for taking the life plan less traveled. However…
If your priorities still include drinking until you throw up and aiming to sleep with (let alone even using the phrase) a “Yummy Mummy,” then maybe you want to start hunting for a good therapist instead of other single guys your age.
I’m calling them Tuesings.
1. I’m getting really good at losing gigs to really good people. I found out today I didn’t get a job I’d applied for by randomly and coincidentally having lunch with the woman who did. But since she’s a good egg, I’m totally content with the outcome.
2. Smoothies are tasty. Homemade smoothies made with love are like heaven in a cup.
3. Senator Clinton said she’s not getting out of the race because you never know what could happen – like when RFK got shot. How that can be misconstrued is beyond me. How her campaign could seriously attempt to blame the media or Obama for twisting her words is straight jacket and padded room lunacy.
4. I know how hard it is to put together a select group of bloggers and make sure it is balanced and inclusive on all fronts, but the fact is it can be done. And it should be done. I did it for Election Night 2006. I’ll write more about this a little later.
5. Did I mention I like smoothies?