[Peace-discuss] Perversity of presidential politics

[C. G. Estabrook]

[The point of the presidential campaign, like most of what passes for politics 
in this country, is to distract people from the real political questions -- 
notably, Whom is our government going to kill? Instead, we get charades and 
charivaris, like that noted below -- unlike countries (mostly in the former 
Third World) who have real democratic politics.  --CGE]

	Financial Times
	Clinton diehards reject unity
	By Edward Luce in Washington
	Last updated: June 26 2008 03:00

...Under the umbrella group, Just Say No Deal, diehard Clintonites have set up 
more than 100 anti-Obama websites in the last 20 days, most of them boiling with 
indignation.

Some, such as I Own My Vote and No Quarter, are self-explanatory. Others, such 
as Done - Democrats Over Nominating Elitists - and Puma - Party Unity My Ass - 
choose memorable acronyms. With nicknames such as Barky, Nobama and Oblahblah, 
none is complimentary towards its party's nominee.

Many of the sites are run by women who believe that Mrs Clinton was the victim 
of a sexist alliance between the mainstream media and Mr Obama's campaign. Yet 
much of the language they deploy could easily be mistaken for what comes out of 
rightwing talk radio.

"Voting for Obama is like going to bed with your rapist," said one supporter in 
an e-mail circulated to a Clinton support group. "Hillary has raised money for 
these people, campaigned for them and they betrayed her. Now you all want her to 
be a "nice girl" and hand her political base over to Obama. You must be daft." 
[AN AMERICAN SAYING "DAFT"? --CGE]

Amy Goldman, who set up the Puma site on Facebook, says she has received a flood 
of e-mails from like-minded Democrats. Many, like her, plan to vote for John 
McCain. Some were motivated by Mr Obama's widely quoted advice to Hillary 
supporters to "get over it" at a meeting with a congressional group on Monday. 
In context, the remark comes over much less starkly.

Others picked up on a recent incident when Mr Obama called a female reporter 
"sweetie" for which he later apologised. Many of the sites sell a badge labelled 
"I am not your sweetie". Still others were inflamed by the allegedly biased 
commentary on MSNBC, the cable-news channel, throughout the primaries.

One commentator accused Mrs Clinton of "pimping out" her daughter, Chelsea, on 
the campaign trail. "The level of misogyny is unspeakable," says Ms Goldman.

"But the main source of my anger comes from the fact that this was a selection, 
not an election. Obama was imposed upon the Democratic party by its elite. Even 
if Hillary is invited to join Obama on the ticket I will still vote for McCain."

[See <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ac7cb2b2-4318-11dd-81d0-0000779fd2ac.html> for 
the full article.  I actually wonder if much of this isn't a black advance (so 
to speak) from the US Right (cf. Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos") -- or perhaps 
from the Israel lobby.  --CGE]