Saw today that the Clinton campaign is bringing out the establishment media to gripe about Bernie Sanders and, for example, having Cornel West as a spokesman. Cornel West has criticized Barack Obama and apparently some believe that President Obama not only is above criticism, but that to do so turns off all black people. I am not going to pretend to understand or speak for an entire race of people, just as I don't speak for all white people, I have an opinion as an individual, but I do want to talk about whether anyone can a. want to see changes in the political process and b. attempt to stifle someone's free speech because it might be offensive. 

First, however, I blogged extensively about the 2008 race. Hillary Clinton definitely used racism against Obama as a tool to try to win the presidency. I didn't specifically vote for Barack Obama because he was black, but definitely her unscrupulous efforts made me not want to vote for her. 

Here are some examples.

IF OBAMA WAS A WHITE MAN

Hillary Clinton had Geraldine Ferraro on her campaign finance committee in 2008. Ferraro said, more than one time, that "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position." 

Hillary Clinton knew this. What was ironic was that when Samantha Power of  Barack Obama's campaign called Clinton a "monster" , the Clinton camp complained and Powers resigned. 

Earlier, clearly rattled by the Ohio defeat, Ms Power told The Scotsman Mrs Clinton was stopping at nothing to try to seize the lead from her candidate.

"We f***** up in Ohio," she admitted. "In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it, because she knows Ohio's the only place they can win.

"She is a monster, too – that is off the record – she is stooping to anything," Ms Power said, hastily trying to withdraw her remark.

Ms Power said of the Clinton campaign: "Here, it looks like desperation. I hope it looks like desperation there, too.

"You just look at her and think, 'Ergh'. But if you are poor and she is telling you some story about how Obama is going to take your job away, maybe it will be more effective. The amount of deceit she has put forward is really unattractive."

So, did Hillary Clinton do the same about Ferraro? No, not right away. Talking Points Memo, on March 11,  had a blurb from Obama's campaign asking if the Clinton campaign had a double standard. SLOG, from Seattle, pointed out that Ferraro had done this before with Jesse Jackson.  Here, with video, is what Keith Olbermann said on Countdown about this on March 12. 

On the 12th, Geraldine Ferraro resigned but said that the Obama campaign was using her comment to try to hurt Hillary Clinton. Right. No responsiblity. 

So, was this a fluke? Nope.

Hillary Clinton's White Entitlement

2. White entitlement of the Clintons as discussed by Andrew Sullivan in April 2008

Hillary Clinton touts her white support

3. Hillary Clinton touts white support. WHO is bringing up race??? Cliton

4. Most egregiously, look at what Clinton said about waiting to get into the race by referencing the assassination of Robert F Kennedy. This, duing the 2008 campaign, was one prime reason why, besides the racism, I definitely ruled her out as anyone I would EVER want to vote for, for anything. (There were other reasons, too, like her saying she wanted to obliterate Iran and trashing Obama for expressing he would be a diplomat rather than a war-mongerer). But, really? Was she waiting to see if Barack Obama would be assassinated? When so many of us that supported Barack Obama were worried that something would happen to him on the basis of his race, she was thinking of this as a political calculation? More than disturbing.

 Another related post from Medium with more examples of Clinton's racism.

I'm a white woman. I like to think I'm not racist at all, but what I can say is that I run away from people who are racist or who employ spurious, underhanded racist themes in order to gain some end, including political ends. In my county, once Obama was elected, the Democratic party essentially dissolved. One of the prominent people involved in the party called Obama the n slur. I can only assume that there were Democratic party racists who decided to become Republicans ONLY because of Barack Obama. 

I voted for Barack Obama twice. I did so on the basis of what I saw as a more elevated tone of discourse, as well as positions he espoused. Clinton's politics seemed grubby, and opportunisitic. I'm not going to get into, here, a comprehensive list of all the distasteful things Clinton did, but people generally know that she lied about her background (like the Bosnia sniper story, or the Irish tea party story) . I believe she wants to be president so badly that she will say or do anything to try to get it. I didn't want her then and I won't vote for her now as she is exactly the type of person that personifies the worst about what I'd like to see be different in government. Have to say that is extremely rich and ridiculous that she is now trying to hug up to Obama in order to pander to black voters. 

Now, did Barack Obama live up to what I hoped he would do? In some cases, yes, in other cases, no. I'm not going to get into an exhaustive list here, but, for example, one item I wanted him to change was AT&T spying on Americans by using tech companies as a back door. Instead of stopping that, as he said he would, AT&T got a pass, and then, at the Democratic convention, AT&T's banner was plastered all over it and had apparently donated big. Joe Biden is the one that outed Obama as a defender of same-sex marriage. Do I believe that Republicans systematically prevented him from getting his agenda done, including the jobs program? Yes. And it's because, in part, of one huge reason why I LIKED him over Clinton, that he attempted to negotiate, reason with people, etc. (I see now that when Republicans are so gridlocked unless, like toddlers, they get their own way, the reasonable bipartisan way cannot work. It's a shame). 

But can I, even with MY candidate that I voted for, criticize him and wish things had been better or more had been accomplished? OF COURSE. And over time, rather than wish for another candidate just like Barack Obama, I've come to want someone who will stop falling right in line with the old strategies that do not work. People that think that any president is above criticism, even by those who voted him in, and that supporters of a given party must shut up, are not truly believers in freedom of speech. 

That brings me to Cornel West. I've seen what appears to me to be black corporate establishment beginning to slam Bernie Sanders on the basis of having West as a spokesman. Cornell called Obama a "Rockefeller Republican in blackface". From 2012