Rep. Clyburn, Most Influential Black in SC, Says Clintons "Insulting, Denigrate" Black Achievements"

[Dems Will Win]

This is huge, and likely causes a major shift in not only South Carolina, but the AA vote in the nation as well. Clyburn really lights into the Clintons! Wow.

WASHINGTON — Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the highest-ranking African-American in Congress, said he was rethinking his neutral stance in his state’s presidential primary out of disappointment at comments by Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton that he saw as diminishing the historic role of civil rights activists.

Mr. Clyburn, a veteran of the civil rights movement and a power in state Democratic politics, put himself on the sidelines more than a year ago to help secure an early primary for South Carolina, saying he wanted to encourage all candidates to take part. But he said recent remarks by the Clintons that he saw as distorting civil rights history could change his mind.

“We have to be very, very careful about how we speak about that era in American politics,” said Mr. Clyburn, who was shaped by his searing experiences as a youth in the segregated South and his own activism in those days. “It is one thing to run a campaign and be respectful of everyone’s motives and actions, and it is something else to denigrate those. That bothered me a great deal.”

-snip

Mr. Clyburn, reached for a telephone interview Wednesday during an overseas inspection of port facilities, also voiced frustration with former President Clinton, who described Mr. Obama’s campaign narrative as a fairy tale. While Mr. Clinton was not discussing civil rights at the time and seemed to be referring mainly to Mr. Obama’s stance at the Iraq war, Mr. Clyburn saw the remark as a slap at the image of a black candidate running on a theme of unity and optimism.

“To call that dream a fairy tale, which Bill Clinton seemed to be doing, could very well be insulting to some of us,” said Mr. Clyburn, who said he and others took significant risks more than 40 years ago to produce such opportunities for future black Americans.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/us/politics/11clyburn.html?

If Clyburn endorses Obama, SC could be out of reach for Hillary. This will be talked about ad nauseum by the pundit class.

[rodeodance]

1. gee--Will Bill Clinton lose the title of 'first black president"???

[xultar]

7. Apparently. And apparently all it takes to be supported by black folk is to appoint

one or a couple to high office.

someone posted...to me, that the Clintons did nothing for black folk because they didn't appoint any blacks to the administration.
The economy was great under Bill, Blacks in general did well I know I did. Blacks went to college, more black executives were appointed, and the middle class grew by a new influx of black americans.



To which I respond...so are you saying black folk should support BUSH cuz of Colin and Condi. PLEASE. HAYLE NAW.

[IndianaJones]

43. I've lived in Arkansas and the roots of his support in that community are much deeper than that. nt.

[xultar]

44. I know. But you can't tell some of these posters. They refuse to listen.

[live love laugh]

49. xultar you summarized the issue for me. Well said! -eom-

[itsrobert]

2. I think he should endorse Edwards

Edwards (other than DK) is the only candidate that is going to fight.

[Tarheel_Dem]

34. I agree with you, but I don't see any heavyweights endorsing our

guy at this stage. And it's sad that our candidate will be chosen by the media. I wish John had been able to some traction coming out of Iowa, but I think it's over now.

[Fredda Weinberg]

3. Please ... the man is objecting to something that wasn't said

This is getting to be too touchy for serious dialogue. So much for Barak's bringing us together ...

[marmar]

4. Perhaps the Clintons are contributing to some of the discord, n'est-ce pas?

I'm neither an Obama nor a Clinton supporter, but you seem to be heaping the blame in one place.

[Fredda Weinberg]

10. Blame for being innocent? The article is clear ... Bill is being

criticized for what he might say. We're being warned that this topic is sensitive ... again, so much for dialogue.

And no, the Clintons have nothing to do with this touchiness.

[Supersedeas]

41. Comment?? This is all about one singular comment-what OTHER contribution did the 'Clintons' make

to catch some of the blame for the 'discord' -- pretty pathetic analysis, if you ask me.

[Dems Will Win]

6. Barack is trying to bring us together, but the Clintons are trying to stop that

and suggest he is a fairy tale and that it took LBJ to pass Civil Rights.

Clyburn is visibly angry here and I can imagine a lot of other African Americans are as well.

Hillary's co-chair in NH Shaheen suggested the Republicans would ask Obama if he ever dealt drugs, another innuendo that he is a black man.

Blacks are still smarting from that one too. Hillary may have blown the AA vote...

[xultar]

8. Are you speaking from a black or white point of view?

[Dems Will Win]

15. White political consultant

[xultar]

17. Well as a black woman working stiff. I don't see that the Clintons are trying to break

us apart at all.

[Marrah_G]

19. Stop screwing up their manufactured outrage Xultar!

[xultar]

24. I can't When the dr slapped me on my ass @ birth he told my mom...she's gonna be trouble.

[Marrah_G]

27. Smart Doctor!

[Tarheel_Dem]

36. "manufactured'? obviously, you're not black, and Xultar is posing...

[Marrah_G]

37. She is "posing"???????

And yes... it is manufactured outrage.

[Tarheel_Dem]

38. I'll take your word for it. Being in the Clinton Camp you should know

"manufactured". And yes, I said "POSER".

[Marrah_G]

39. Actually I am an Edwards supporter- never assume anything

Name calling on here is a no-no and telling a black woman she is a fake black woman because she thinks differently the you is probably not the brightest idea.

[Dems Will Win]

23. I actually agree with you. But the horse is leaving the barn here because

Hillary and Bill have been a bit clumsy. I really think this may not have happened with Clyburn except for the Shaheen suggesting about Cocaine Dealing was like kicking a hornet's nest, and so things are inflamed.

It looks like it's already too late. A lot of African Americans will of course still vote for Hillary, but instead of 60% it will be more like 20% or 30%.

She is polling 21% among the AA vote in the last SC poll already BEFORE Clyburn jumped on them.

[bigscott]

9. and Shaheen is right!

OF COURSE THEY WILL ASK IT!

they fight to win - I cannot believe people believe they will not go all out - even if it is wrong. Being wrong never stopped the GOP from trashing every great candidate the Dems have (Max Cleland?)

[Virginia Dare]

12. I don't see how statements like this help bring "us" together..n/t

[Fredda Weinberg]

16. I wouldn't take the AA vote for granted. Neither do the Clintons

Bill established his non-profit as part of the Harlem renaissance, when he could have gone anywhere. If you want to look at who's a part of the AA community in NY, the Clintons are in the heart of it.

And you think Obama has it locked up because of his skin color? How racist!!! :sarcasm:

[Rydz777]

33. I'm afraid you're right. I've never thought that Obama or anyone

else was going to bring this country together. We are deeply split. The Republicans will do everything possible to undermine the next (Democratic) administration. The MSM will magnify every misstep. If elected, Obama may find himself in the middle of a major economic recession, or even depression - that of course applies to Hillary and Edwards too. I really think we are heading for some hard times - and Bush has set the next President up for a fall.

[Fredda Weinberg]

42. Watch for trouble w/Iran just before * skulks out ... n/t

[Tarc]

5. Let's highlight something here;

While Mr. Clinton was not discussing civil rights at the time and seemed to be referring mainly to Mr. Obama’s stance at the Iraq war, Mr. Clyburn saw the remark as a slap at the image of a black candidate running on a theme of unity and optimism.

So Rep. Clyburn is taking Clinton to task for something he did not actually say. "Never let fatcs get in the way of a good argument", indeed... :eyes:

[Dems Will Win]

13. I do believe that horse that already left the Clintons barn was the black vote!

All that was needed was a perceived slight and those voters know have an excuse to vote for the first viable black candidate for President.

Not fair, but that's how politics works.

White pundits, trying to explain that's not what Bill or Hil meant will just make it worse!

Hah!

This is an amazing turn of events -- AGAIN!

Hil tried to backpedal that same day, but it was too late. To AAs, she was saying LBJ was more important than MLK, the white man had to do it.

This is fucking amazing, excuse my French...

[Tarc]

21. I think these sorts of assumptions are the race-tinged ones

I'm sorry, but is the African-American community a collection of sheep who you feel will march off to Obama's camp in droves because a handful of talking heads say so?

[Dems Will Win]

30. You don't understand SC politics if you don't think this is going to have a big impact

on the black SC vote and then some impact in the nation.

The Clintons have a real problem on their hands now. With only 20% of the black vote, Hillary cannot win.

[rodeodance]

14. Clyborn is WRONG--Clinton did NOT say it BECAUSE obams is black but because he is an opponnet!

[Virginia Dare]

11. I wish Democrats would stop trying to pound this wedge..

I'm really disgusted by all of this, on all sides. There is no place for it.

:thumbsdown:

[Marrah_G]

18. So to him anything critizing Obama is an insult to black people

This doesn't make sense. Are we sure the quote is correct?

[Dems Will Win]

20. What part of TEFLON COATING WITH SPIKES don't you understand?

Anybody who criticizes Obama risks turning off the Black vote.

That's part of why being black is such a big advantage to Obama.

The other part is the Tiger Woods Syndrome. Obama is breaking the biggest color barrier in the world so he is a literal folk hero to many people not just AAs.

[Marrah_G]

26. That will backfire

If they start invoking race in the GE how do your think the pukes will react? The problem is, they don't care about the black vote, so that fails to work in the GE.


And nor should it work. No one should get a pass because of race or gender.

[bluedog]

22. this is going to be a very ugly election

if every little thing that is said can be turned around and considered raciest by some people.......then there will be no open and honest debates......think the GOP is going to tread easy with Obama............think again////

[LostinVA]

25. Unfortunately, yes

[HamdenRice]

28. The Clintons have ALWAYS engaged in race baiting to the right

I can't believe so many people don't remember what Bill Clinton's original campaign was like.

In 1992, he assured African American leaders that he was going to be great on civil rights, and demonstrated that he was unusually comfortable for a white man around African American audiences and in Black churches.

Once he had made that clear, then he would pander to the racists. Then he would run back to the African American community and wink-wink, nod-nod and explain this is what he had to do to get elected.

Remember Clinton flew back to Arkansas to prove he was "tough on crime" by watching the execution a black mentally disabled prisoner named Ricky Ray Rector, a man so disabled that his guards knicknamed him chickenman, because he believed that chickens and alligators were in his cell:

<quote>

By 1992, Bill Clinton was insisting that Democrats "should no longer feel guilty about protecting the innocent" and took a position strongly supporting capital punishment. To make his point, he flew home to Arkansas mid-campaign to watch the execution of Rector. Some considered it a turning point in that race, hardening a soft public image. Others tend to cite the execution as an example of what they perceive to be Clinton's opportunism, directly influenced by Michael Dukakis and his response to CNN's Bernard Shaw when asked during a campaign debate on October 13, 1988 if he would be supportive of the death penalty were his wife to be raped and murdered.

The courts decided Rector was mentally competent to be put to death by lethal injection. Rector's prison guards called him "the Chickman" because he thought the guards were throwing alligators and chickens into his cell. He would grip the bars and jump up and down like an ape. On the night of his execution, Rector saved the slice of pecan pie to be eaten before bedtime, not realizing his death would come first. He also told his attorney that he would like to vote for Clinton in the fall.

Rector was subject to a unique overlap of controversies in 1992 during his execution in Arkansas. A question of the morality of killing someone who was functionally retarded. An oft-cited example of his mental insufficiency is his decision to save the dessert of his last meal for after his execution.<1> In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court banned the execution of people with mental retardation in Atkins v. Virginia, ruling that the practice constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Rector was African-American, adding to racial questions relating to the death penalty.

<end quote>

Remember Clinton out of the blue bashing an obscure rap artists, Sista Soulja -- giving rise to the political term "Sista Soulja Moment":

In United States politics, a Sister Souljah moment is a politician's public repudiation of an allegedly extremist person or group, statement, or position perceived to have some association with the politician or their party. Such an act of repudiation is designed to signal to centrist voters that the politician is not beholden to traditional, and sometimes unpopular, interest groups associated with the party <insert: that is, Black people> although such a repudiation runs the risk of alienating some of the politician's allies and the party's base voters.

Clinton's response was criticized by members and leaders of the Democratic Party's African-American supporters, such as Jesse Jackson<3><4>, and he would be accused by Sister Souljah of being a racist and hypocrite <5>. However, it is often reported by the media to have also reinforced the image, in the eyes of moderate and independent voters, of a centrist politician who was “tough on crime” and “not influenced by special interests.”

<end quote>

The Clintons have been playing race/language games for almost two decades.

What on earth do you think Clinton meant in 1992 when he ran on the platform of "ending welfare as we know it"? What on earth do you think most white voters think of when they hear the word "welfare"?

How have so many people forgotten this? How can anyone be surprised at Hillary's gutter politics?

[Dems Will Win]

29. Thanks for this!

[Tarc]

31. Probably the dumbest post I've ever read here.

Anyone who thinks either Clinton has been a race-baiter in person or in policy is an idiot.

[HamdenRice]

32. And your opinion is conclusive

And so eloquently stated!

Congratulations.

[Marnieworld]

46. I never knew the story of Ricky Ray Rector

I'm horrified by it and a bit sick to my stomach. How anyone can still support the death penalty, espeically with all we know about mistakes and racial inequities is beyond me. How anyone could not stop that execution when clearly that man was not functioning is disgusting to me. He used it in his campaign really? Wow. Since he left office I have been repeatedly disillusioned by Bill Clinton. This is probably the last straw for me. I'm sick. This is so sad. How do people live with themselves?

[HamdenRice]

47. Welcome to the 90s

This was a big story in 92. He ran back to Arkansas to kill a black man to prove to the bigots that he was not a captive of "special interests."

It was truly a disgusting low, but at the same time, he would do the wink wink, nod nod, to the African American community that this was just to get elected.

And we bought it.

He killed a mentally disabled man over political theater. Yeah, that's how bad they were.

[jberryhill]

35. Huge? It is one person's opinion...

Is there a "most influential white person" in South Carolina who decides how all the white people think?

How does this person get appointed?

Mr. Clyburn is an accomplished man whose opinion is worth considering, just as is the opinion of other thoughtful people.

[rodeodance]

45. He played the 'race card' here--and I am NOT one to use use that term lightly

[milkyway]

40. I tiptoed into this with a post two days ago discussing the racial stereotypes subtly being

promoted by the Clinton campaign to form a narrative of Barack Obama. A day later, Karl Rove used much the same narrative I mentioned, but with no subtlety. See my update on Rove at the bottom of the discussion.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2640381&mesg_id=2640381

[Dems Will Win]

48. Its all innuendo saying black, negro, muslim