The Morning After

You know, I don't know which is worse, the daily bombardment of gossipy infotainment that blasts out at us from the majority of formerly reputable news outlets, or the overly sensationalized-hyperbole laced-sky-is-falling-reporting that has destroyed the rest of what used to be news in America.

Massachusetts chose a new Senator to replace the departed Ted Kennedy. OMG ! HE'S A REPUBLICAN!

“HEALTH CARE REFORM IS DEAD! IT'S THE END OF OBAMA! RUN FOR THE HILLS!”

On and on ad nauseum...except...today is the morning after...and we're still here...

Democrats still have an 18 vote majority in the Senate....Likewise in the House......Healthcare is still on the table and passable..

May take a little more work...but hey...not passing it is way worse than passing it..

And the Republicans still don't have a clue or a plan...except to wreck anything that will benefit Americans...that is their only plan, period.....

And what have we learned..... We have learned that..

America is still rife with people who believe in cutting off their nose to spite their face by voting against issues or people who will help them in the long run....

The corporate stranglehold to make reform go away is working well....bought and paid for congressman and scared people who are the monkey wrench thrown into the gears of progress to benefit all..

and

America with its love for the fake and cosmetically enhanced, still loves the cute white guy.....it's about the way he fills out his Speedos, not about what is inside his head or his heart...

Scott Brown! Come on Down!

How much you wanna bet he trades in that pick up truck for a Benz or something equally luxurious within six months of his swearing in.

Ted Kennedy 1932-2009

"For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end. For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die. -Ted Kennedy, Democratic National Convention, August 1980

I was at Madison Square Garden the night that Kennedy spoke those words, as part of one of the greatest speeches that I have been privileged to hear with my own ears. I didn't intend to hear them. I was tired, having worked the convention all day as part of the ABC convention coverage team of reporters.

I was sitting in the back, in the reporters area, because Sam Donaldson wanted time on the floor. We had to rotate on the convention floor, and I gladly gave up my time, because I'd filed several stories that day and really just wanted to get back to my hotel, at 7^th and 52^nd. The Sheraton Center was six blocks away and as I had done every day in New York, I'd walked to the Garden, because it was quicker and faster than trying to drive.

At that time of night, I would have preferred to drive back, but, you know, NY gridlock is real gridlock. So as I prepared for my late evening stroll, Ted Kennedy came to the microphones to give his concession speech the night before Jimmy Carter took the nomination for the second time.

The reporter's area was always a noisy place, after all we were working filing stories, writing stories, BS-ing with our friends that we hadn't seen since the last major news broke where ever in the world. It was especially never quiet when politicians rose to speak. We'd heard the speeches over and over. Usually the air rang with witty quips or jokes about the politician and who he was screwing at the time, and Ted Kennedy was no exception.

Except that night. Within a few seconds of opening his mouth, the whole room got silent and stayed that way to the last word. Kennedy had gotten the attention of the very jaded press corps. We turned on our tape recorders and sat back and listened, really listened. To use that old cliché about hearing a pin drop, well, you could, it was that quiet in the cavernous room. It didn't seem as if any of us breathed during the entire speech.

And after it was over, there was a collective “exhale,” with many of us having the feeling that the convention was nominating the wrong man for president.

In retrospect, I don't think so. Ted was not cut out to be president. He was cut out to be what he was, the major motivator on Capitol Hill for us little folk. His name is on more than 3000 pieces of legislation on civil rights, health care and economics benefiting the people, not the corporations. He is the last of those who actually believed they were sent there to work for us. He was made to be a Senator and that's what he was.

Prior to that speech in 1980, I met the Senator and his son Ted junior in 1978, shortly after Ted the younger lost his leg to cancer. They were both engaging and a bit overwhelming for me. I was cool, but I was actually standing next to, talking to, shaking hands with one of the legends behind the myth that was Camelot. Chappaquidick aside, I will never forget those feelings or memories. I remember every word he said to me that day.

Kennedy's legacy to America is health care reform. He didn't live to see it passed. But I do hope that Congress will pass it in his memory as living testament to the man that he was.

May you find peace, Senator. You've earned it.

Fannie’s Dancin’ in Heaven

Last night, I listened to the next First Lady of the United States of America and man, that woman is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo fine. The words to describe her are just too mediocre. She was elegant, classy, confident, emotional, mesmerizing, engaging....totally, totally together. I’m in love!

Wow!

Listening to Michelle made me recall all of the conventions that I’ve watched or attended. Thinking about the women who had taken the podium, some of them going on to become first lady. Some of them there simply to speak and support the candidate of the hour.

Last night, prior to Michelle, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi spoke and other than wearing a wonderful white suit, she failed to hold my interest.

Michelle’s sister in law, Barack’s younger sister also spoke. Gorgeous woman. Poised. Wonderful voice. Oratory ability obviously runs in that family.

But it was truly Michelle’s night. She followed Ted Kennedy and for a moment I wondered if she was up to following him. She was. A couple of sentences in and I forgot Teddy..no offense intended.

I was at Madison Square Garden in 1980 when Ted conceded to Jimmy Carter. I consider his speech that night to be one of the greatest political speeches I’ve ever heard. So he is no pushover to follow.

Michelle made me think of Fannie Lou Hamer, a voting rights worker who would not be denied. She was from Mississippi, the youngest of 20 children and the granddaughter of slaves. She was the first to penetrate my immature psyche and awaken my unquenchable thirst for politics. I watched her at the Democratic Convention in 1964. I was fourteen at the time and the convention was the only thing on TV, I was watching. Ms. Hamer was the leader of the Freedom Democrats, a group that challenged the seating at the convention of Mississippi’s all white delegation.

Ms Hamer faced down the likes of LBJ, Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, J Edgar Hoover on a compromise seating arrangement that was even endorsed by Martin Luther King Jr. The compromise would’ve given the Freedom Democrats just two seats in the delegation. Hamer lost the argument. But the confrontation ultimately led to a change in rules on seating.

My fourteen year old brain didn’t recall much of what she said. I do remember this round brown woman talking tough to all those white men and not being afraid when she did it. She wasn’t havin’ any of their B.S. and she told em so. It was 1964. I remember the emotion that welled up in me. The pride of seeing that “illiterate woman” as President Lyndon Johnson called her, stand up for blacks in Mississippi and blacks in general;

"We didn't come all the way up here to compromise for no more than we’d gotten here. We didn't come all this way for no two seats, 'cause all of us is tired."

"I am sick and tired of being sick and tired."-Fannie Lou Hamer’s epitaph

Michelle touched on that same pride last night. Made me think of Shirley Chisolm, the first black woman elected to congress, a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the first black woman to have her name placed in nomination for the democratic candidate for president. This was back in 1972. I was 21 at the time. The first year I was eligible to vote for president. It was symbolic. Ms Chisolm was supported by a diverse group of people including the National Organization for Women. George McGovern went on to take the nomination. I voted for George, but I’ll never forget Ms. Chisolm.

Recent first ladies with the exception of Hillary, have been stepford wives....frozen smiles...no substance...non-engaging....cold.....Michelle is definitely not in that mold.

She is real. The kind of woman you can be friends with. Did I say I’m in love? Yeah...well, I’ll say it again...I’m in love with Michelle...I hope she makes it to the White House!

National Organization for Women...Still Deluded

Given my political stands over the years,...anyone who knows me would justifiably think that I would be a member of NOW, the National Organization for Women. At the very least, my friends and acquaintances think I’m a feminist and have been forever. I accept that. I’m a feminist. I do believe in women’s rights in this still male dominated patriarchy in which we live. I supported the Equal Rights Amendment. I support equal pay for women. I basically support, just about everything that NOW fights for.

However, I am not now, nor have I ever been a member of NOW. And furthermore, I don’t know many women like me who are members of NOW.

I am a black and lesbian woman and while most people, or a lot of people assume that all women who fight for feminine equality are lesbian, it is simply not true. Like the general population, NOW members are overwhelmingly white, straight, middle class women.

From my standpoint, NOW has always suffered from the “mommy knows best” syndrome when it comes to women who don’t fit their general mold. m.k.b.s can be very condescending in it’s application toward minorities. The general thinking seems to be since we’re all female, we should all think and feel the same way, minority issues aside. Well, that isn’t always the case. Even, the late Flo Kennedy, who was a member, and black and lesbian, had her differences with the organization.

The New York chapter of NOW is railing against Ted Kennedy, calling him a traitor for endorsing Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton. The NY’ers said in their press release, that Ted sided with the men because he, like every other male in this country, can’t stand the fact that a woman is running for president.

They seem to be saying that Hillary should be supported simply because she is a woman. They apparently are willing to overlook the past week’s events in South Carolina where Bill Clinton, played the race card while campaigning for his wife. I guess they are willing to overlook the fact that she supported the war in Iraq.

Given Bill Clinton’s actions in South Carolina, does NOW think Hillary can control this man should she get the nomination? Does NOW think Hillary can win the White House with Bill at her side?

I don’t think so. I don’t think Hillary can control Bill anymore than NOW can attract minority women into the fold. Once again, the NY NOW is acting on assumptions rather than reality.

The more I see the Hill-Billy act, the more I’ve become convinced that Obama is the answer.

I wrote after New Hampshire that Hillary may have trouble getting support in the middle of this country. After South Carolina, I feel even more strongly that she will lose and lose big in the middle states. Like it or not, the Clintons are just flat out hated in the Midwest and south. Alienating minorities is really not going to help matters.

Up until last week, I was torn between Clinton and Obama. I personally will support whichever wins the nomination. But I am bothered by what is coming out of Bill Clinton’s mouth. I am bothered by NOW for presuming that all women should support Hillary, because she is a history-making woman.

Obama is also making history. He happens to be male, but he is also black.

Obama is also making sense. Obama is also looking to the future....not reliving the past. I like the fact that the young are making themselves heard in their preference for president.

The babies have spoken....Maybe NOW and the rest of us old folks should listen...