When You are Rich I Guess You Can Buy a Huge Microphone

photo From the The Duchess of Cornwall's visit to the British Memorial Garden at Hanover Square, New York. Sir Evelyn and Lady de Rothschild.

Prominent Dem Abroad Lady Lynn de Rothschild who served on the Dem Platform committee this cycle perpetrates a hit piece on the Democratic Party Nominee a week before the convention.

Barack Obama can use the words ‘the American dream’, but they don’t resonate,” she said. “He magnified the problem by going to Berlin and calling himself a citizen of the world.” She also resents a lack of effort to pay off Clinton’s $20m campaign debt. “He has provided her with a pittance compared to what the Clintons have given Obama,” Rothschild said. “Her debt could have been cleared within 10 days. It’s ungracious.”

Rothschild has not yet made up her mind. “I haven’t ruled out voting for McCain,” she said. “I like him a lot.” She is waiting to see who Obama picks as his running mate and has her heart set on Clinton. Sarah Baxter Times of London

Lady de Rothschild in addition to being a long time Clinton supporter and donor (The Rothschilds spent the night of their wedding dinner in the Lincoln bedroom at the White House when Bill Clinton was president) was helping on the DNC Platform committee this year. Yes, a democrat threatening in the international press to support John McCain-- helped craft our platform.

The story goes on to reference all the key talking points in Rovian-art style.

1. He's not really American
2. He's elitist (seriously a Rothschild called him elitist)
3. He's a usurper (Machiavellian meme)
4. He's unelectable

Nice.

Do I sound resentful? Damn straight. I was a Howard Dean supporter and then a Dean delegate to the convention in 2004 and was told, after we lost, that party unity was more important. I turned around and threw my heart into everything I could do to help get John Kerry elected.

In 2008 I ran for DNC and was told after winning that I should understand that now I had a responsibility to put Party first. I was told that some of my firebrand rhetoric would not be appropriate and that my job as a DNC member would be to help promote my state party. Unity being the key word in that story as well.

And yet, here is a prominent Dem Abroad, who is representing Americans Overseas on the platform, coming out with a list of GOP talking points against our candidate.

So unity is for the grassroots-- but not the leadership? Unity can be used to tell the grassroots in 2004 to behave but not party members like Lady de Rothschild now? She can say what she wants and then, in a recent email from an elected officer in Dems Abroad, she is praised for all her work on the platform.

What's the difference between her and me? cold.hard.cash. And that buys her a pass to say anything she wants about the nominee in the press and still be a leadership voice in the DNC.

*Update Lady de Rothschild follow up on foxnews.



oh, and on cnn she slams again but this time going under her pre-Rothschild maiden name so she can tout the "elite" meme more credibly.

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In a Town Called Unity

UNITY, N.H. — Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton set off on their maiden political voyage on Friday, trading their rivalry from the presidential primary battle for a newfound display of harmony intended to set a fresh tone for any Democrats still harboring bitterness from their grueling duel.

It was a day of choreographed unity — their destination was a rally here in this small western New Hampshire town — with the two senators appearing together before the cameras for the first time. Three weeks after suspending her campaign, Mrs. Clinton renewed her endorsement and pledged to do all she could to help Democrats win the White House in the fall.-- New York Times

Ok-- start your engines ladies and gents, let's get this thing done. What are you planning in your areas to get out the vote? What are your plans to raise awareness? What is your donation strategy? (Budget now, we need you.) Are you registered to vote yet? If not, why the hell not? Plan now how you are going to get at least 2 other non registered friends or family to participate this year. Each and every one of us needs our own personal field plan. We have just about 4 months left. What are you going to do to help end this 8 year nightmare?

One of my friends went to the Unity NH event and posted this photo of the buses lined up in neighboring town pick up points. This was just at one pick up stop of many... I think the repubs are in some serious trouble.

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The Gap

As I have wandered around the internet, I have seen plenty of post primary pie fights that are not about candidates but about differences in thinking. Some of the most vehement lingering anti-Obama sentiment seems to be expressed in outrage directed at "cultural creatives" or internet activists, or those naïve young people that bought into the Obama campaign.

I have been thinking about this since one particular angry thread in a previous piece here about Ivo Daadler. The thread became something more about a perception (I believe an incorrect one) of anti-intellectualism and at the same time anti-blue collar. These opposing angers came from some of the same commentors—which is what kind of tipped me off to the fact that there might be something else going on.

The anger that was expressed seemed beyond the subject matter being discussed and I have been thinking about it ever since.

I am sure I am not going to be able to get to the heart of this on my first try. But here is some of what I have been thinking.

What people really fear, or hate, or lash out against—is not differences of thinking or ideas, or even core belief disagreements, we seem to be able to have those without resorting to angry name calling (trolls not included) and ranting. But what gets people really going is the idea of being left-out, left behind, disregarded or not taken seriously.

This is important as we go forward. The bitterness-bs, the angry women over 50, the poor in the Appalachia region—the older activists who cut their teeth during the 50's and 60's—what makes them angry and frustrated is the thought that they will be left behind in the new political and economic constructs being discussed and also that they have been left behind for so long already and we need to fix that.

The Netroots needs to take this very seriously. We need to learn to talk about stuff better, include more people, reach out, listen and learn from people that have historical knowledge. We can't go arrogantly forward without doing this or we will certainly pay a price. We need to pay attention to what people are feeling, not just what they are saying. Technology divides, and economic paradigms are going to be the new divide, not unlike what immigrant families in the 20's-50's felt when they came here and their children learned to speak a different language and understand a different reality. That generational divide might be a good model to consider as we face this political divide.

The folks that feel the fear of being left out also need to meet us halfway. Many already are. They are reading and posting and interacting here on the internet. For some that is a big step.

For the 60's activists many are just beginning to come back into politics after being disappointed and disillusioned that their first efforts did not change the world's ills as they had hoped. But we still need to ask them to do more.

Meet in the middle. Look at your own anger and think about what might really be going on. And be patient with newer netroots types. Be understanding that some of what fuels cultural creatives is the same optimism and hope that fueled great change in the 60's and 70's. That hope helped end the Vietnam war, and pass the civil rights legislation.

We need that kind of hope now because the odds are always against positive change and the people on the front lines need to believe it can happen in order to keep their courage. Don't stand behind us and whisper in our ears that we are foolish and it will never work. Give your knowledge and your advice but don't be angry that we willingly believe that maybe this time things can be at least a bit different.

How can we work across these various ideas, histories, and economic realities? I don't know-- but I bet many of you have some strong ideas.

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Thoughts on Unity

No red states, or blue states. Just the United States.

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