I have completed my examination of the linguistic structures in Fran’s post.  Writing style, syntax, is like a thumbprint; it’s very hard to disguise. 

Bill is clearly bored after being benched for a few days for being such a bad dog in SC.  For shame!

Re By mackTN, January 27 at 8:13 pm #
(134 comments total)

Obama:

Because, you know, I respect the fact that Senator Clinton and President Clinton attempted in ‘93 to get health care reform passed. But I do think that they did it in the wrong way, because it was behind closed doors, and we did not enlist the American people in the process.

The only way we’re going to be able to overcome the insurance companies, and the drug companies, and the HMOs who are profiting from the current system is if we are having all these negotiations in a public setting, we are very clear about who’s carrying water for the drug companies and the insurance companies, and who is looking out for the families who, day to day, are struggling.”

MackTN

I watched this debate...carefully.  The expression on Obama’s face when pressed on this issue was mild panic, and he CHANGED THE SUBJECT by going into his BUT THE CRTICAL ISSUE IS..., which went on forever.
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MackTN:

I was happy with this response. Hillary did do everything “behind closed doors” back in 93, and that is why she lost. The health care issue must be taken to the people; that is the only way to win.

Hillary is an elitist and she only deals with the power elite, not with the people. Obama will win on this issue, and others, by making it transparent and taking it to the people.

Wow.  You are really sick...and clearly desperate.  If you want to know more about Obama, go to his website. 

We’ve had a history of occasional drug users and drinkers in the white house...and, yes, sex addicts, too.  Not to mention in the Congress.  These weaknesses appear to cross party lines.

But thank goodness we don’t have to elect anyone like you to office.  That would be sinking way too low.

Now as we head toward super tuesday, the republicans and all of Hillary clintons opisition has been trying to get rid of Bill Clinton for some time now, if he is gone they know they can chew her up, All you can hear now is Obama Obama a self admitted felone and you want to vote for him.

He has admitted to useing drugs, as well as drinking, we allready have a ex drunk in the white house now you want a ex druggie, as well as a ex drunk, cant you tell by Obama,s speaking that he is a ex druggie it had effected his speach.

By the way what do we know about him? nothing> what do we know about his wife? nothing.now you want to break your neck to vote for him when you got the clintons that have been tried and proved, we know what they can do.

As far as Ted kennedy backing Obama i can remember when he should have been tried for his lover drowning, how short our memories are, Ted Kennedys backing means nothing to me i had much rather have the backing off the endorsement of of the two Kennedys that they are getting.

Now we get to Obama again where did he come up with all this money to run on? dont you think he is going to owe some huge favors, He is going around promising positions in his cabnet for endorsements, look at where he was raised Kenya they are fighting and killing each other over there like dogs, and that is what you want here.

Obama has got several of this specialist in making campaign killer ads against the Clintons, that was so good at beating the democrats in the past used by Bush and his father, and they are going after Hillary Clinton,

Your pilitical Biased news media has been trying to Kill Hillary since she won NH, and they are doing a good job at it, they take snippits and make ads that look bad for her, but they take ads and make Obama look like a God, plus the give him 10 times as much coverage as Hillary, which is in violation of federal law.

now you know who the news media backs dont you its allways a republican, now what is Obama, the republicans are not even backing thier on candidates they are putting the money behind Obama, now the primary will wind it up if Obama gets the nomation, they will have thier republican no matter who gets elected, why do you think Karl Rove took off so early? to work in the back ground and try to get Obama elected, now is this what you want?

when you read this and vote for Obama you will wish that you had of took heed to this , because you will be worse off than you are now, and Obama makes all the racest remarks that he wants but thats ok, in every speech he brings up race, he was the first to bring it up.

“JOHNS: Senator Obama, we all know what universal health care is, as Senator Clinton just said, sort of the idea that everybody deserves health care. And I have not been able to sort of zero in on your position on this one question: Does your plan cover the estimated 12 million or so illegal immigrants in the country?

OBAMA: It does not.

JOHNS: Why not?

OBAMA: Well, because I think we’ve got limited resources. And it is important for us that, when we’ve got millions of U.S. citizens that aren’t yet covered, it’s important for us to make sure that they are provided coverage.

I do think that we have an obligation to make sure that children are covered. And we want to make sure that they are not sick in the emergency room.

But the critical issue on these various plans is, how are we going to actually get it done?

Because, you know, I respect the fact that Senator Clinton and President Clinton attempted in ‘93 to get health care reform passed. But I do think that they did it in the wrong way, because it was behind closed doors, and we did not enlist the American people in the process.

The only way we’re going to be able to overcome the insurance companies, and the drug companies, and the HMOs who are profiting from the current system is if we are having all these negotiations in a public setting, we are very clear about who’s carrying water for the drug companies and the insurance companies, and who is looking out for the families who, day to day, are struggling.”

I watched this debate...carefully.  The expression on Obama’s face when pressed on this issue was mild panic, and he CHANGED THE SUBJECT by going into his BUT THE CRTICAL ISSUE IS..., which went on forever.

Edwards then offered his response, which I didn’t agree with, but at least he was direct and upfront about it. 

I rarely assert things that I cannot support.

Blitzer then asked him about the children of illegal immigrants and whether they would be covered.  If you are going to refute me, don’t do it with an excerpt. 

Get the transcript covering the followup question.

Our style of civic engagement has seriously deteriorated.  We focus way too much on image and gossip masked as analysis and emotions instead of on logic, questioning, and issues.  Do any of you really think you know who these candidates are, what they plan to do, and how they plan to do it? 

One reason we don’t know is beause they will not answer our questions and they are not forced to answer our questions until we are satisfied with their answers.  We have to depend on a middleman, buffer, the MEDIA, for our information, which distort messages and introduce illusion.

Out of all these candidates, I was in consistent agreement with Gravel (depicted as a clown) and Kucinich (marginalized).  I find myself in frequent agreement with Ron Paul--even though I am totally left wing, mid-50s, civil rights activist black person.

Wiping out personalities and images, I am in least agreement with Obama and Clinton on key issues.  Neither of them are left, except for their commitment to diversity.  Obama, in fact, is one of the most conservative Democrats ever to run for office--he is in fact what people refer to as a Reagan Democrat.  I’d like to know his views on affirmative action, his plans for illegal immigrants as it relates to the job market and increasing business practices to degrade jobs for cheap labor, on health insurance companies and drug prices, on Iraq and what his plans are long term, on corporate profiteering in Iraq and releasing information on the contractors over there and the money they’ve made. 

I find it disturbing that people are fawning all over Obama like he’s some kind of second coming of Christ and that they can’t articulate a rationale beyond hope and change.  This primary was completely f-ed up, for now we are getting stuck with these showhorses who have successfully sidestepped provididng any detailed, followed through reasoning fo their positions on a myriad of issues. 

We do owe this mess to Bill Clinton, who made a Hollywood scripted event out of Democratic Party and drove out progressives to make it more Republican. 

I picked up his avoiding answering questions on immigration posed by Blitzer--he asked if children of illegal immigrants would be supported in his health care plans and Obama changed the subject.  Edwards offered his answer--not that I agreed with it, but he didn’t try to hide it or avoid it like Clinton and Obama did; Edwards is upfront, at least.

This stupid idolatry is how we got George Bush in office.  We hire bus drivers more seriously than we do presidents.  Ridiculous!

I like the fair tax too. It sure makes a lot more sense than an income tax. It appeals to me as a fiscal conservative.In general it has always seemed to me economically sound to discourage consumption and encourage work and saving. It does not have to be hard on poor people. His proposal involves a tax rebate for low-income people to make up for the 30% sales tax.

I find it hard to believe that evangelicals can be educated in the real sense of the word, and I worry about how much Huckabee understands history or foreign affairs. I also worry a lot about his possible attachment to fascistic Christian Zionists and a religious bias toward Israel.

He does seem a decent human being. If there is such a thing as a “compassionate conservative”, maybe he’s it.

Hi, Frank -

I hardly ever express myself this way but this southern strategy the Clintons are playing is just infuriating. He doesn’t mind losing South Carolina and the black vote nationwide because he figures Obama wll lose more whites and Latinos nationally. In South Carolina most of the non-black vote seems to be going to the only white guy, Edwards, rather than Clinton, but that works for Clinton too. It could be a winning strategy, and the damage to the party, the country and common decency be damned! I swear I would consider voting for McCain or Romney before voting for Clinton too. I don’t think I could hold my nose hard enough to seal out the stench.

People are raised with all sorts of profiles and cultural influences that ultimately trump race.  In this country, race counts primarily because it can threaten or scare people, but race alone cannot inspire or guarantee votes. The worldview, the positions, the perspectives are important and the single most determining factor.

If instead of looking and listening to candidates, I had to vote based on my scrutiny of their written documents and their records, I’d vote for Edwards.

But I also want to see a diversity in the people they surround themselves with, the people who advise them, not the people they prop up behind them during speeches.  After all, what good is a woman or black president if they uphold the same old system.  If they are really pressing for change, these candidates, it has to be modeled in their own staffing.

Wonder who will win the race.

The race for the White House?

No! The human race.

Re: Tony Wicher, January 24 at 3:13 pm

You get kind of nasty in a nasty way. I said the same thing in a more civil, but just as nasty way:

To Hillary Clinton info at hillaryclinton dot com

Hillary Clinton,

I used to be a Democrat back in my college days and for several years after. I am too conservative though essentially progressive for Democratic politics of the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and 2000. Along came Bush and destroyed my dreams of an America where our constitution could protect us from abuse by our government officials gone off the American track. I voted Democrat for the first time in over 20 years in 2004. America lost!

Along came Barack Obama and hope was restored. I even wrote to Barack Obama early and ‘advised’ him to be nice to Hillary because we may need her. Though I was less than impressed by your health care initiative under the Bill Clinton administration, and your back woods financial dealings, I felt that under an Obama presidency, you could play a role. Obama is a breath of fresh air in this campaign. Your campaign reminds me of the time when I was a youth working in the wheat fields of Kansas. They get dusty and when I had to go into the bins and shovel wheat, I had to put a damp handkerchief over my nose to breath. You and Bill Clinton are raising a hell of a lot of dust lately. Barack is trying to sprinkle it down with a lot of truth and reconciliation. I just may have to tie a damp handkerchief over my political nose and support John McCain.

My headache is that Joe Lieberman, with his Israel Uber Alles stance, turns my stomach with his siding with McCain. That leaves economy as my major concern with civil rights moving right along in America. America first! Let the world deal with human rights in its own slow centuries pace. Republicans, here I come again.

Human rights world wide is my major concern after our economy and civil rights in America. Your position and the rest of the Democrats fall short of my expectations on human rights, especially concerning Arabs, Palestinians, and Muslims. See Gaza strip. Republicans also fall short, but there is hope after Bush and Lincoln was a Republican.

If you drop out and Barack Obama is the Democratic candidate I will stay with Democrats, but if you are nominated, it is definitely John McCain for me. Wake up and smell the coffee. Your and Bill’s brand of politics is passe. Get it? BTW, Bill did a pretty good job on the economy, but you blew it. Now you both make me vomit. Makes me yearn for Monica Lewinsky politics (Vast right wing
conspiracy). At least, we could laugh at it. The situation in the world and America is no laughing matter in this election. Get real! SUPPORT BARACK OBAMA! You have plenty of AUDACITY, now get HOPE, and HELP!

Frank Goodman, Sr.

CC to Barack Obama

I voted for Bill Clinton twice, and I think he was a fairly good president, with a record of eight years of peace and prosperity.  In the last few weeks, I have seriously begun to despise him. He has played the race card, created wedges between whites and blacks, Latinos and blacks, deliberately and with malice aforethought, because it serves his political interests. For this I will not forgive him, and neither will black people. White liberals shouldn’t either. No one who loves this country should forgive him. This so-called “first black president” turns out to be a motherfucking bubba after all.

Fuck you, Bill, and Hillary too.

that the context of this whole ‘race’ issue has come to the fore courtesy of Bill Clinton.

Smart political strategists that they are - when Bill was running negative attention paid to Hillary, think non-cookie baker, was negative attention NOT paid to Bill.

Are we going to fall for it again?

Some theorists suggest that language is the structure of thought.  That is, and Plato would disagree but he’s dead, a tree is only a tree if English is your native language.  If you’re German it is not a tree, its a baum; and if you’re French then its an abre.  Three people can stand around the tree, point at it, agree that they are looking at the same thing, and see it completely differently.

Language is the process of labeling and then structuring those labels into a coherent string.  Our need to categorize ourselves racially stems from a similiar motivation.  Being a person is not enough, and this may come from the fact that most languages use the word “person” to label themselves as distinct from other kinds of people.

If language is the structure of thought, transcending the need to label ourselves will be difficult - if not impossible - to overcome.  The only way that it will change is through the slow course of nature and the mixing of gene (linguistic) pools.  When we reach a point where everyone is mixed up (in terms of “race”, which anthropology does not even accept as a definable term...rather than just being mixed up, which we clearly already are) we will no longer need the labels.

I’m white, and i’ll let Frank Zappa sum up my feelings on that account, “Hey, you know something people? I’m not black, but there’s a whole lots a times I wish I could say I’m not white.”