Tuesday, January 31, 2006

"She was as actively involved and concerned when we met as she is now"

Before we get started with anything else, let me respond to an e-mail. Someone seems to think that I should be bothered by Rebecca's "dear katrina." I'm not bothered by it in the least.

I think Rebecca has a strong argument and I think she wrote it very well. There are serious points, there are laughs, it's a beautiful post.

It doesn't surprise me, not just because Rebecca is gifted with a very unique voice and is always true to it. It also doesn't surprise me because I've known Rebecca for years. That's not something that's hidden. Rebecca, C.I. and I are three best friends who've been best friends forever. But someone who writes "This is my first time visiting your site" seems to think that I'll appreciate his "worries" about Rebecca's post. I don't. I don't care what he thinks.

Rebecca wrote a brilliant post. He said she should be "embarrassed for it." The kid who says "the emperor has no clothes on" has nothing to be embarrassed about. Now the emperor . . .

No one needs to be told "It is off limits to criticize Tim Kaine." Furthermore, they don't need to be told that instead of criticizing a politician, they should write about these four topics (which, by the way, Katrina vanden Heuvel herself hadn't written on that week).

It probably was an "embarrassing" post for someone, but that person isn't Rebecca. Rebecca was true to herself. Her post sounds like her. The same can't be said for the scolding of the left bloggers.

"Nobody owns The Nation"? Nobody owns this community. If anyone did, it would be C.I. who built it up. It certainly wouldn't be someone who has never done a thing for this community. But C.I. refuses ownership. C.I. gives it right back to the members (and gives credit to them as well). So for this community, the scolding went over like a ton of bricks. Maybe it played out differently elsewhere but no one in this community needed to hear the scolding.

There's also a point Rebecca makes that makes the scolding even more worrisome. The issue of abortion isn't touched on in the scolding. But Kaine's one more "I will keep it legal but due to my religious beliefs I am opposed to abortion" types. It's one more step in the process of the DNC stepping away from support for abortion. The scolding didn't touch on that.

Rebecca's was hilarious. The part where she responds to Kaine being a "proponent" of racial justice is classic Rebecca:

but we're supposed to take comfort, according to you, in the fact that he's 'a proponent of racial justice.' a proponet! what a brave stand. if this were the 50s. i don't think that even rates a mention today, quite frankly. that, to me, is akin to writing 'and he believes in oxygen and breathing!' i kind of expect that any elected leader in the democratic party, would support racial justice at this late date.

If someone needs to be embarrassed, it's not Rebecca or, as the e-mailer suggests, C.I. for posting Rebecca's post in full. But if some visitor thinks he's going to come between three of us, go ahead and give it your best shot. This friendship has lasted through everything that anyone could throw at it. We're not going anywhere and our friendship has been tested by better than you, many times over. This is a lifetime friendship.

The e-mailer says that if I will just "admit that Rebecca is wrong" he will be back and "frequently" visit my site. I don't care what he does. I won't lose any sleep if he never visits again. Other people are more recent friends, but I wouldn't turn on Betty or Cedric or anyone to gain "a reader" or to gain many.

You miss an obvious point, e-mailer, we didn't go begging for readers at our sites. If someone from outside disagrees, "Oh well . . ." We speak our truth. Do we disagree? Certainly, read one of the roundtables at The Third Estate Sunday Review sometime. But we are all in this together. No outsider can turn us against one another.

Coretta Scott King, 79, Dies (Democracy Now!):
In Georgia, Coretta Scott King - the widow of Martin Luther King Junior - has died at the age of 79. She had spent her life fighting for civil rights and preserving her late husband's legacy. In April of 1968 she led a march through Memphis just days after Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated. Later that year she led the Poor People's March in Washington, D.C. She continued working for equality, peace and economic justice for the remainder of her life, both in the United States and abroad.

Almost a year ago, Brenda noted Coretta Scott King's grace. I think that captures her gift beautifully. Everything she did, she brought grace to it. Both in the sense of doing it with considerable taste and in a spiritual sense. This is the woman who had to face a nation when her husband was assassinated. She inspired then and she continued to inspire. MLK was obviously a strong personality, as any leader has to be, but Coretta Scott King proved she was a strong woman and she personified the legacy.

I could never live up to the standard that she set, but I can take inspiration from it. She truly inspired a nation. There are many fallen leaders who have to wait years for history to revist their legacy. Coretta Scott King's strength and grace prevented that from happening to MLK and don't kid that quite a few would have preferred he be forgotten. I can remember the arguments against a national holiday (Dick Cheney, in fact, was opposed to a national holiday in honor of Dr. King).

She obviously believed in his work and believed in keeping it alive. (Dr. King said she was committed to the struggle before he met her.) History didn't have to rescue Dr. King because Coretta Scott King kept the dream (and the fight) alive. The world is a much better place because she was in it and that's probably the best thing we can say about anyone.

Halliburton Stock Reaches New High (Democracy Now!):
In other business news, the stock value of Halliburton reached a new all-time high on Monday following the report that Halliburton had its most successful year in its 86 year history.

We're back to Dick Cheney again. If Dr. King fought for doing the right thing, Cheney has fought for getting the right price. There's a difference and I'm sure, that in some way or form, it will come back to Cheney in kind.


The Palace Revolt Against Bush (Democracy Now!):
Newsweek has revealed that there have been deep divisions within President Bush's own Justice Department over the legality of the administration's tactics since 9/11. In a major piece titled The Palace Revolt, Newsweek reports a group of conservative attorneys stood up to the hard-liners led by Vice President Cheney over whether the president can assume near unlimited powers in the so-called war on terror. According to Newsweek, these attorneys fought to bring government spying and interrogation methods within the law. Some were so concerned over the legality of the administration's eavesdropping program that they lined up private attorneys in case the program even drew the scrutiny of Congress or prosecutors.

Back to Cheney and joined by the Bully Boy. The bad news keeps coming on this day. That's how it feels anyway. We lose Coretta Scott King, we get Alito on the Court. Haliburton profits and Bully Boy lies. Truth and justice always have to struggle against greed and deceit.

Please visit Mikey Likes It! to get Mike's take on today's events.

MLK Quote on Coretta Scott King:
I must admit -- I wish I could say -- to satisfy my masculine ego, that I led her down this path; but I must say we went down together, because she was as actively involved and concerned when we met as she is now."











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