Hillary Clinton better be on her toes at tonight’s debate. Three people remember the Senator as dismissing blue-collar Democrats at a 1995 retreat. Said Clinton, allegedly: “Screw ’em. You don’t owe them a thing, Bill. They’re doing nothing for you; you don’t have to do anything for them.” The Clinton campaign insists the remarks were taken out of context and reiterates Clinton’s down home life style: “To be clear, that’s not how she felt then and it’s not how she feels now, and the proof is in how she has lived her life…” [HuffPo]
Screw ‘Em?
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Tom
Well, you gotta hand it to the old girl..she is consistent. She said “screw ’em” to the people who she felt betrayed her (Bill) then and she is saying “screw ’em” to everybody she feels is betraying her now. And that includes anyone “disloyal” enough to support Obama. She really is bringing the Democratic party to its knees.
Leland Frances
He said she said he said she said blah blah blah….
There’s audio tape of Obama dissing the “lower classes.”
There’s video of Obama lying at the LOGO forum claiming he was “the chief sponsor of†and “passed†the gay rights law in Illinois.
There’s video of Obama lying to Tim Russert on “Meet the Press†claiming he was “a cosponsor†of the gay rights law in Illinois.
There’s audio tape of Obama lying to “The Advocate†lying when he said he was “a chief cosponsor of and then passed†Illinois’ gay rights law.
There’s video of Obama defending his racist lunatic Louis “Hitler was a great man” Farrakan-loving, Goddamning America personal pastor.
There’s video of Michelle Obama saying the first time she was ever proud to be an American was when her husband ran for President.
There’s video of Obama’s OTHER spiritual advisor trying to run for governor on an antigay platform; the “minister” who calls other blacks who disagrees with him “house niggers.”
There’s video of Donnie McClurkin whom Obama sent to South Carolina to campaign for him, who told Pat Robertson that gays “are trying to kill our children,” screeching to voters, “God delivered him from homosexuality!!!”
And all of that is only in the last few months. What a GREAT future Obama promises!
mjc
oh please, huffington post is just dragging something up to make up for it being THEM who broke the obama ‘bitter/cling’ comments and made them known, setting off all the mainstream media talking heads.
huffpo constantly bashes clinton, they hit obama on something and now they have to make up for it by digging up clinton’s past from some book some nutjob probably wrote (there are many ridiculous books written on the clintons).
its them saying, “we’re so sorry obama land, we still love you, don’t take it the wrong way, we had to seem like a legit news source or at least try!”
so to huffingtonpost, i say.. SCREW ‘EM.
Bitch Republic
Who exactly is alleging that she said this?
Dawgson
@4: There’s three independent sources right now.
Alacer
Well, just as a note on tonight’s debate, I personally think Hillary did a much better job. She was much more concise and she spelled out her plans, something I have been waiting for Obama to do.
Michael Duquette
Really queerty youre resorting to this slander? Why am I not surprised,,,youll do anything to get Obama elected. Shame on you. Bastards
Michael
Tom
Hopefully after Obama wins the nomination, everyone who visits this site will do everything they can to help him get elected too.
Jesus Christ! Do you people really want another 4 effing years of Republicans? Wake the hell up!
hereIambaby
I’d support hillary. Love her smile and her confidence. She always has a positive attitude and that is what makes her outstanding. Everytime I signed in the site (B l a c k C e n t u r y.c o m) and some men were talking about her and said she is attractive.
emb
Let’s keep this in perspective, folks: Obama’s “bitter/cling” comment is, actually, demonstrably sociologically true; Hillary’s brain-fart about Bosnia is either a McCain moment (re Bill) or outright lyage.
And they’re both richasses, and outside the campaign neither of ’em’s been anywhere close to a “blue collar american” who’s not employed to vacuum their toilet covers. The populist posturing is nonsense.
todd
Eat the rich!
Afroguapo
Hi Leland
Can you please do us all a favor and spare us the hyperbolic diatribes in your posts? It’s becoming sort of one-dimensional and hackneyed. We get it: “you hate Obama and you love Hillary.” That being said, please also include a factual basis rather than the usual canards against Barack. Soon you’ll be telling us in all caps that BHO is Muslim.
BHO was actually alluding to the Kristof piece (that people can vote against their interests) rather than looking down on the lower classes. It was an observation and certainly not mean spirited or condescending. Here is the piece: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/03/opinion/03kris.html?scp=1&sq=Kristof+gays+god+guns&st=nyt
I think we’ve been able to deduce that Rev. Wright is not the monster that Fox and 30 second youtube clips have made him out to be. He’s been progressive on hiv/aids and gay issues (the church has a same sex dating workshop) in fact, served as a Marine and graduated near the top of his class and he was criticizing America for past/current misdeeds — what, you want him to wear a flag pin lapel too and sing God Bless America as an act of contrition — being a patriot can also mean vehemently criticizing your country b/c you want it to do better.
You conveniently left out that Michelle said “this was the first time she was REALLY proud of her country” That is a substantial difference from the first time ever being proud which is what Fox tried to portray. Even Cindy McCain has since come out and apologized for criticizing Michelle for her statement. Try to be “fair and balanced” like Fox purports to be. Have a good day, Afro.
Afroguapo
Retraction it doesn’t appear that Cindy has apologized for going after Michelle and capitalizing on her innocuous statement. I did a search and nothing comes up.
Leland Frances
Other than the difference of INTERPRETATION on what was behind what Obama said about people who aren’t millionaires like him, please PROVE, Afro, anything else I wrote above is not factually correct. Admit it, you simply don’t like criticism of St. Obama no matter how factual it is.
RE Michelle Obama’s revealing statement: the first Merriam-Webster definition of “really†is “in reality/actually.†Therefore, it is entirely reasonable to translate what she said to “the first time I am actually proud to be an American.†Even when defined as an intensifier, as in “extremely proud,†when you add the “the first time†one must ask WHY?
And talk about misinterpretation! No fucking way does Jeremiah Wrong run a “same sex dating workshop.†He simply has extended the church’s “singles ministry†to include gay singles. I applaud him for that, and dating may be a byproduct, but he’s no yenta of color for queens, for Christ’s sake!
Additional, and more revealing fact: as complimentary as many are about his gay-positive statements, black lesbian minister Irene Monroe insists that some gays left his congregation when he criticized the leaders of the denomination for endorsing gay marriage equality. And,
“the Rev. Ruth Garwood, executive director of the United Church of Christ Coalition for GLBT Concerns, said that while Trinity Church has the reputation of being gay-supportive, Wright and other church officials never accepted an invitation from her office to become an official UCC “open and affirming†congregation for the GLBT community. At least three other UCC churches in Chicago have adopted the ‘open and affirming’ status and more than 100 UCC churches throughout the U.S. have adopted the status, as have churches in other denominations.†– Washington Blade
As for Rev. Wrong having been a marine—so was Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who shot Wrong’s alleged hero JFK. The US is guilty of many wrongs, past and present, but the pattern of Wrong’s “criticisms†makes it clear they are meant to reinforce his doctrine of perpetual Blacks As Victims. Comparing him to Martin Luther King, Jr., is obscene.
As Christopher Hitchens—who BTW hates Hillary as much as anyone, saying he thinks Samantha Power should not have been forced to resign from Obama’s campaign for “simply stating the truth†about Sen. Clinton, and has called Clinton “bitchyâ€â€”put it, ‘The statements of clergymen like Jeremiah Wright aren’t controversial and incendiary; they’re wicked and stupid.â€
– http://www.slate.com/id/2187277
And there is empirical reason to believe that he has done more harm with his retarded perpetuation of AIDS conspiracy theories than he has done good with his positive actions such as encouraging HIV testing.
According to a study by the Rand Corporation and Oregon State University reported in the “Washington Postâ€:
“That belief markedly hurts efforts to prevent the spread of the disease among black Americans, the study’s authors and activists said. African Americans represent 13 percent of the U.S. population, according to Census Bureau figures, yet they account for 50 percent of new HIV infections in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Phill Wilson, executive director of the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles, said past discrimination is no longer an excuse for embracing conspiracies that allow HIV to fester. ‘It’s a huge barrier to HIV prevention in black communities,” Wilson said. “There’s an issue around conspiracy theory and urban myths. Thus we have an epidemic raging out of control, and African Americans are being disproportionately impacted in every single sense. The whole notion of conspiracy theories and misinformation . . . removes personal responsibility’, Wilson said.†The study revealed that black men who believe such theories are even less likely to use condoms.
Afroguapo
Leland:
Go back and read my posts. I was for Kucinich (always have been) and will take either Hillary or BHO, whoever gets the nomination, over McCain. I think I’ve stressed from time immemorial on this site that we should all be pragmatic and civil. To suggest that this is about my not liking any criticism of “St. Obama” couldn’t be more patently false. You are the one who goes on tirades if anyone says something negative about Hillary or positive about Barack and then you add as codas to your diatribes: “I bet your ass cheeks are already spread for him” when some guy said he was for Barack or “I bet his face is black from being so far up his ass”. Given that, it sort of strains credulity that you think that I am the one who has issues. It’s like Hillary is a relative of yours or something. Regarding Michelle, I think that the word “Really” does change the meaning because if it didn’t why did Fox and others deliberately omit it? The English language continues to morph and albeit slang, really can also connote “extremely” or “very” as in exclaiming, e.g., “I am really happy to see you.” Regarding Wright, he has been a vociferous champion of those with hiv/aids saying “we can fund wars but can’t make it our priority to eradicate this disease” and again, put his comment in the perspective from a 70+ old black man. http://thinkonthesethings.wordpress.com/2008/03/17/about-rev-jeremiah-wrights-aids-comment/
My dad and grandfather are quite cynical about this country (and rightly so given their experiences here) — and they have white friends . I don’t think my father or grandfather is a proponent of victimhood but rather feel that some people shouldn’t buy every thing hook line and sinker. In contrast to you, some lgbt people view Wright an ally to the gay community given his works in the area and that is their perogative.
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=17869
He also wrote a chapter in Cornel West’s book about the Black Church and Homosexuality saying that we have to accept our lgbt brothers and sisters. Just take a page out of Bill Perdue’s book and be more measured in your responses because it comes off shrill and distracting.
Bill Perdue
I can’t even remember how long it’s been since I was invited to Camp David for a Presidential Retreat so obviously I didn’t personally witness Hillary say “Screw ‘em. You don’t owe them a thing, Bill. They’re doing nothing for you; you don’t have to do anything for them.â€
However the sentiment fits with the times and with Hillary’s Clintons Goldwater Girl approach to unions and working people. The Clintons, other right wing Democrats (is there really any other kind?) and Republicans joined to pass the union busting anti-worker bill NAFTA which became law in 1994. The AFL-CIO had bitterly opposed the bill and its leadership was furious. Large numbers of union members were again threatening to boycott the elections and several unions were in the process of organizing the US Labor Party. The fear that he might not win reelection in 1996 explains the Clintons decision to pander to gaybashing bigot voters by buying time on southern religious radio stations owned by swine like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. In those ads Bill Clinton openly boasted about his support for the bigot bill DOMA and didn’t pull the ads until GLBT groups began howling in rage. Clinton’s ads were so offensive that even the pipsqueaks over at HRC felt compelled to squeak up.
Hillary Clinton began her political life as a right wing religious nut. While most Dixiecrats were morphing into Republicans this religion obsessed Goldwater Girl transformed herself into a Dixiecrat, another confirmation of the lack of real differences between the parties. She’s never really changed her hard line anti union politics from the days when she spent 5 ½ years on the Board of Directors of Wal-Mart, the union busters company that boasts of Always Lowest Wages (with no benefits). She was a union buster then, later in 1995, and she remains one today.
While much of the union leadership is again selling out via a suicidal policy of supporting Democrats the recent gathering of over 1100 union stewards and leaders at the Labor Notes conference in Dearborn Michigan last week signals a real change in the direction of the labor movement. The Editor of KC Labor describes the self styled ‘Troublemakers’ conference as follows “In my view, the nearly 1100 labor activists assembled in Dearborn represented the biggest, most informative, and most inspiring labor movement event since the 1996 founding convention of the Labor Party. Unlike corporate oriented conferences, and union conventions, nearly all the participants were there on their own dime and didn’t see this as a career advancement opportunity. It was a welcome antidote to the defeatism prevailing in the leadership of mainstream unions. While most of organized labor is diverted into hustling votes for the bosses’ chosen candidates for office, the conference program helped refocus activists on the real issues in the class struggle today and facilitated serious discussion about questions of strategy and tactics.â€
The new combativeness of the trade unions, students and youth, especially GLBT students, immigrant workers , African American trade unionists, GLBT groups like UnitedENDA and others mean that the days when the two parties can ceaselessly play their lesser evil shell game are numbered.
www dot kclabor dot org
Mr C
Afroguapo,
Can you tell me why Leland keeps avoiding my question about is he an African American? I have asked 3 times on 2 different post and he will not answer.
Leland are you Black?
Blackness
Mr. C, who gives a shit if Leland is black, green or purple? His opinions reflect that of an imbecile and he should be ignored…maybe he will go infect some other site or simply retreat to his klan rallies.
Afroguapo
Bill Perdue, you’re giving me even more reason for my nascent internet crush on you. With the proliferation of all these disparate groups and their continued activism, I look forward to the day that we aren’t played and manipulated by this two party system. My parents have voted for Nader traditionally and haven’t voted for a mainstream candidate in the last 20 years ostensibly for the very reasons you’ve posited: that the Dems are not the progressives they purport to be: http://www.socialistalternative.org/news/article10.php?id=780
I’ve voted Democrat in the past (not so much because I’ve liked the candidate in question but rather that I’ve loathed the Republican option). Regarding the Dems, I am tired of all the infighting and “crabs in a barrel” syndrome which is only helping McCain, so we may end up creating our own demise/failure in 2008.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/19/opinion/19herbert.html?em&ex=1208750400&en=13b2fa2cf7483a4f&ei=5087
Mr. C, I agree with Blackness. Leland’s race is irrelevant (I dont’ care if he’s white, Hispanic, black or Asian) as the issue is that he’s blatantly bigoted, mean-spirited and wants to create dissension within the LGBT ranks irrespective of whatever he is ethnically and comes off as a petulant child thinking it’s somehow interesting/provocative. I am surprised there are no “Terms of Service” prohibiting his conduct. Also, I don’t think we need to necessarily disclose what our ethnicity is unless we want to. I’ve only shared because it was related to a topic or something (e.g. Black Is/Black A’int)
Afroguapo
Bill,
Check this out.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/celeste-fremon/clinton-slams-democratic_b_97484.html
Bill Perdue
Afroguapo, re 20, this adds credence to the rumor (I just started) that following the well deserved demise of Leona Helmsley Hillary has her heart set on capturing her title: “Queen of Mean”.
re your 19: Thanks for your comments. You’ve probably noticed that people who refuse to get on the Democratic (sic) bandwagon are often scapegoated by Jackasses who say we’re responsible for electing George Bush.
In reality it’s the Democrats incessant betrayals of labor, ourselves and their other ‘constituents’ that leads tens of millions to sit out the elections. They are not lazy or indifferent people. They’re smart, they’re disgusted and they won’t be bothered to vote against their own interests by voting for Democrats. That’s why Republicans, who are really just slightly more honest Democrats, get elected.
It’s not an accident that the US is a cesspool of various bigotries. Racism, immigrant bashing, homophobia, misogyny, chauvinism, “the only good Indians a dead Indian†– every kind of prejudice and intolerance you can imagine is fostered in a strategy of divide and rule meant to pit group against group to preserve the wealth and power of the ruling rich.
By pandering to bigots and pigheadedly opposing samesex marriage Democrats and Republicans perpetuate the cycle of bigotry and divide and rule. The Republicans controlled the Congress for the last decade or so and the Democrats since 2006, They united to refuse to end DADT, jointly gutted ENDA to placate big business, refused to revoke Bill Clinton’s federal DOMA and dropped the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill like a hot potato so it wouldn’t be an issue in the 2008 elections.
Whoever wins in 2008, the Democrats and Republicans will continue to be a roadblock to GLBT equality, a fair standard of living, ending the war, socialized medicine and the fight against all forms of bigotry. A vote for either of them is a vote against ourselves.
……………………………
He are some quotes that might give you some more history of the mindset of Leland Francis, aka Michael Bedwell and who knows how many more aliases. He’s held these views for a long time.
Here are three quotes about the Jena Six and the HRC’s surprising but welcome support for them.
‘When a lone White kid is beaten savagely by a gang of six hate criminals, the media is only concerned about how the Black attackers are being treated too harshly.’ David Duke
“…the “Jena 6” commenced to kicking and stomping on him like he was a bug, causing injuries so serious they required hospitalization. If not for the intervention of an uninvolved student, things could easily have been even worse… teenage jocks filled with macho bravado…†Chris Crane, expressing his anger at the decision of HRC to support the Jena Six.
Duke was predictable, Chris Crane was angry at the wrong folks, but Leland Frances was empurpled with rage at the GLBT supporters of the JENA Six. He said:
“Check out Toy Box for Brains Jasmyne Cannick’s site where she proudly displays a photo of a table with individual pictures of the Six fronted by a host of votive candles as if they were dead not simply overcharged thugs. Let a thousand hip hop homages bloom.
We should be glad, we suppose, that she didn’t blame the treatment of the Six on the Racist Gay White Mafia. I guess they’re too busy trying to figure out what more they can do to oppress her hero, poor shat upon Isaiah Washington. But I’m betting she wove the ‘lynching’ of Michael Vick in there somewhere.â€
Later when Oprah Winfrey’s endorsed Barak Obama Leland Frances, aka Michael Bedwell, etc. simply went went ballistic, and for good reason. Winfrey’s endorsement doomed Hillary Clinton’s campaign. As USC professor Steve Ross says “There’s probably nobody with that potential greater than Oprah. If she increased turnout by just 1 percentage point, that 1% of an increased vote in key states could swing an election. That’s why Oprah’s endorsement is different.â€
Leland Frances created an antigay straw woman out of Winfrey, who in truth is neither our best friend nor our worst enemy. Then he lashed out at his creation asking “As for her Saint of the Gays credentials: why does she feel the need to ever, let alone repeatedly, deny she’s gay? …Yes, Bitch, we do… And you are more a part of those problems than the solution.â€
Leland Frances supports Hillary Clinton’s absolute right to deny that she’s a part of the GLBT communities. So do I, if it were (shudder) proven it would set our struggle back decades, perhaps centuries. But Frances refuses to extend the same option to Oprah Winfrey.
Then he went on to attack Obama, who SHOULD be dismissed for pandering to bigots just as we should reject Clinton and McCain for the same reason. But Frances adds his own intolerant touch to the discussion by claiming that “Black churches have influenced him (Obama), the majority of which rabidly oppose gay rights…”
The truth is that some African Americans churches are led by bigoted leaders, many of them bought and paid for by the White House, but many are not. I don’t know of any scientific study that breaks down the percentages institutionally or by voters influenced by them so we could compare those figures with data on the catholic, mormon and baptist cults and their voters.
These are directly quoted from his remarks at Queerty hrc-comes-out-for-jena-six-20070920 and from Chris Cranes blog citizenchris dot com 2007/09/joe-and-the-jen. Frances also posts at Towleroad where he’s in his element with several Democrats and Republicans who match his right wing invective with their own. He also used to post as Leland Frances and Michael Bedwell at Bilerico, a blog you’d probably like for their openness, deliberate cultivation of a wide range of viewpoints and their intolerance of his kind of venomous prejudices.
Afroguapo, I’m happy to see you posting at Queerty and hope you stick around. You help set a more rational tone to offset the Democrats and their shills who by now are well into their pre-election frenzied clowns mode. It’s all a little comical because the last US election that meant something was Lincoln’s reelection in 1864 and that was a while ago.