Few More Rivers to Cross. . .

I don't engage in political talk often. It’s like playing Monopoly- the conversation will NEVER end and no one ever really wins. . However, I can't help but engage myself in the banter surrounding this historical election race that we have currently found ourselves in. . . . ahhh. .there's that word again: race.

Race
1 : the act of running
2 a: a family, tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock
b: a class or kind of people unified by shared interests, habits, or characteristics
from Merriam-Webster online.

Ironically, we are witness to a race (act of running for office) in which two candidates are attempting to use race (a class or kind of people unified by shared interests) to divide and conquer. What should have been an inspiring walk into history has become a race about race. . .

Case in point:

"I got up and the question was asked, 'Why do you think Barack Obama is in the place he is today" as the party's delegate front-runner? I said in large measure, because he is black. I said, Let me also say in 1984 -- and if I have said it once, I have said it 20, 60, 100 times -- in 1984, if my name was Gerard Ferraro instead of Geraldine Ferraro, I would never have been the nominee for vice president."
In her first interview with Daily Breeze, published late last week, Ferraro said, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

That's called propaganda folks, and team Clinton is full of it. I mean honestly, what does any of this have to do with the state of economy? War in Iraq? Healthcare? Exactly. .

I am having a hard time believing that Senator Clinton thought a simple brush off on her behalf was going to cut it, especially after her people called for the head of Obama's former foriegn policy advisor for a benign off-the-record comment (which may have had some truth to it. . ). The audacity of Ms. Farraro is simply beyond me; I can't understand how she, not only emphatically made her point and defended it, but resigned only such that she might "speak for myself and you (Clinton) continue to speak for yourself about what is at stake in this campaign. . The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you (Clinton). I won't let that happen." Not a lick of remorse in that statement. I can only imagine that Shirley Chisholm is rolling around in her grave. . .
Obama's retort, on the other hand, was simply classic: “Let me put it this way. . if you were to get a handbook on what's the path to the Presidency, I don't think that the handbook would start by saying, be an African-American named Barack Obama. I don't think that would be generally be considered an advantage. . . .Anybody who is aware of our history understands that there are some barriers to knock down, the same way there are barriers if a woman is running. . ."
Address. Explain. Move on. . .
(Quote courtesy of Today Show: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23589533#23589533)

Unfortunately, we've got six weeks until the next major primary in Pennsylvania. Great. Six weeks of party-dividing, border-line offensive, strategically defensive political jargon. But at least we have Spitzer to thank for diverting the media for the meantime. . and for allowing for a blind, African-American man to take the Governor's seat for the first time in New York.

. . there's another river we just crossed :)

N