Debrief (with video!): February 26 Democratic Debate

Last night’s debate was a study in desperation. A desperate candidate (Clinton) trying every thing in her power make Obama loose his cool, but yet again, he maintains his composure. I’ve heard some of the press about this debate and it seems some feel that the moderators were harder on Clinton than on Obama. Well, I don’t know about that. But I will share with you my uncensored play-by-play thoughts that I typed as this thang they call a debate flowed on (not ALL my thoughts on EVERYTHING, because I can't type that fast!). If you saw it live, more the better, you’ll know what I’m talking about. If not, guess what!? I included video of the whole debate for you!!!!! (Thank me later...)



- Wow! The moderators got right into it, bringing up Clinton’s change in tone, from seemingly civil in the last debate, so a raving harpy at rallies and public forums just before this debate.

- You know, as she talks, all calm now, I know that what she’s been trying to do is start a lot of -ish outside the debate room, in order to try and get him riled up and on the defensive when he comes into the debate on television. So if he simply defends himself, he looks crazy and she sit backs and looks cool and presidential.

- Classy: Obama says he takes Clinton at her word (about all the mess she’s been talking in the media lately) and moves on. “I’d like to move on to health care,” he says. Power move! As if to say “You will not transfer your negative shit to me, bitch!” He doesn’t go to her level because he knows he can’t win DOWN THERE!



- See how he talks about the difference in their healthcare plans without making personal attacks or threats towards her?

- And he says: he’s gotten a lot of negative attacks without “wining about it”, he just figures it’s politics.

- Look at her juvenile debate tactic: She blabs on forever, Obama responds, moderators wanna be fair and move on, but she says, “No, this is too important” and just makes up her own rules and keeps talking (still re: healthcare).



- Now NAFTA…
- What????? Snidely complaining about always getting the first question asked of her (and simultaneously NOT addressing the issue)???? Referring to a “Saturday Night Live” sketch and saying maybe we should ask Mr. Obama if he’d like a pillow, basically dissing the moderators in the process???? Now ya’ll heard the grumbles and boos from the audience, no? This bitch has lost her dang mind, don’t give a shit what she says, how it sounds, who it offends, because she knows her times is up. What’s Obama gonna say?....
- Hey-o! He goes right to the issues and ignores her nasty baiting.
- By the way, if you the chic with the most experience and the one “ready on day one,” why can’t you be ready to answer these questions first??? Just a thought.
- His response? Classy and FLAWLESS.
- Look at Tim Russert. He ain’t no joke. Ya’ll see the 5 million Billary quotes he pulled proving her supporting NAFTA in the past, and now she’s switching it up? You go Tim!
- Tim’s not letting her bulldoze! She’s trying to switch it to being Obama’s stance on NAFTA, but Tim’s steady saying, Naw! We talking about YOU!!!! Stick to explaining what YOU said.
- And Obama just sitting back in the cut calm letting this witch make herself look bad and sweat it out.



- Tim to Clinton: As a NY senator, you pledged 200,000 new jobs, but there’s been a net loss of 30,000 jobs in NY. Tim does it again with the zingers. Oh snap!
- Look at her response: She says she thought someone else was gonna be in the White House. That’s her excuse for breaking her promise. Gimme a break! How you gonna talk about being ready to be Commander and Chief if your major plans and promises are based on such contingencies. So then what you gonna say if you’re president and you don’t get the senators or congressmen in that you want. You gonna use that excuse and blame them when we’re all still itching and scratching to see the doctor because your health care plans didn’t come through?



- So glad that he addressed her continuing references to his opposition to the war as simply “a speech.”
- He is just an inspiration to those who are trying to succeed in a field with fresh or different ideas yet being put down.

- THE "BUS IN THE DITCH" ANALOGY. On point!



- Uh oh this “Will you re-invade if things fall apart in Iraq?” is a toughy. I hope Obama has a good come-back….
- Response: If there is a threat to the us there, then yes I reserve the right to defend us. Okay, that’s reasonable.
- BREAK



- Moderators show video clip (mistakenly) of Billary’s mocking of Obama, talking sarcastically about “unity” and “the sky will open and light come down” blah blah…
- Surprised that Obama’s response is simply taking it in stride as just an attempt at humor on her part.
- Glad he still made a point of saying that he’s not all words, he’s made visible change in people’s lives.



- Thank you! He’s finally addressing the fact that she keeps including her experience of first lady in her total experience. He says: you can’t take credit for all the good things that happened during his administration and not take responsibility for the ideas that are crappy.
- Obama says that what he wants to do as president won’t be hope alone. He wants to (not a verbatim quote) “mobilize the American people so that they start paying attention to what their country is doing. And that is not silly!” Excellent point Obama! Clinton is not a unifier. She can’t cooperate with the senate/congress in past, so how is she gonna get stuff moving now or in the future.
- Tim to Billary: Why ain’t you showing us where the money comes from?
- Wow. Her response that she can’t “get it together” now and not explaining why, and not explaining why she has to wait till she’s the nominee….weak.



- Moderator to Obama: Louis Farrakhan backs Obama for president. Wow! This is meant to be the H-Bomb, the thing that shakes Obama up. Bringing up anti-Semitic remarks, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, etc…..
- Obama says: This support was not solicited, he can’t stop somebody from saying that they think he’s a good guy. But before moderators can even barrage him with Farrakhan quotes, he cuts them off and states how he has already shown that he’s denounce some things the man has said in the past….Although Barack seemed thrown off for a second at first, as always, he still kept his composure and responded confidently in the end.
- So now, because Obama doesn't seem to reject his support outright, Clinton sees her opportunity to come in and show herself as the one who WOULD reject (using example from rejecting support of anti-semetic independent supporters in NYC), and I guess in her mind, makes her better than him.
- Now she’s making an issue of his choice of words. But look at his response! Cool again, like “Look chic, ‘reject’ or ‘denounce,’ whatever. The minister hasn't given me any formal or material offer of support to 'reject' in the first place. But fine, I'll say denounce, you ignoramous. You still not gonna get me tripped up on this one.” And check how the audience is feeling him on this one, on how silly she looks taking issue over the wording. Puh-lease! You can’t faze him Billary!!!! (Ya'll know this thing had me busting out my thesaurus? For the record "reject" is indeed a synonym for "denounce.")
- BREAK



(Around this time I started getting sleepy, was too sleepy to type alot)

- Did she mess up the name of the potential new Russian leader, saying something like "whatever" his name is??? O-kay.......



- Some closing remarks, but I gots to go to bed…..ZZZZZZZZZZZ

Debate: Tonight on MSNBC at 9pm (EST)

When have you ever felt electricity like this? I look forward to the Democratic Debates the way people anticipate the Superbowl or boxing matches. Let's get ready to RUMBLE!!!!!!.........

FYI, I just want to help clarify that tonight's debate will be on MSNBC at 9pm (eastern standard time), and NOT on CNN.

I've already gotten calls and messages asking "Where's the debate? I can't find it!!!!" While the last few have been on CNN, tonight it's MSNBC's turn.

Don't have MSNBC? Watch it streamed live on the internet on MSNBC.com.

Okay, it's 15 minutes till the debate, so I gotta get my popcorn and drinks ready. I might be too enthralled to check in with ya'll as things go along, but I promise for a debrief tonight or tomorrow.

What Becomes of A Beautiful Man

Thanks, Desert Rose! I liked the part with the poster of Dr. King, Mandela...and Barack! Yes it was beautiful.

This may seem totally random, but something happened at work today that made me reflect on how when someone is shining, or seems special, confident, blessed, or simply liked, that this will always make insecure people uncomfortable to the point that rather than concentrate on bettering themselves or learning from that person, they try to bring them down in some way, and discredit them to others. It could be through words, sabotage, or distraction.

Obama shines. He is special. He is confident. He is blessed. And gosh darn it, people like him! This is enough to make insecure people (Billary) uncomfortable (jealous) enough to use nasty words, agents of sabotage (Bill, Bob Johnson), and irrelevant distractions (pictures of him in traditional African garb) in order to bring him down and discredit him to current and potential supporters. Yet it would be so much more constructive to learn from the man, strive to touch people's hearts and minds, not for the purpose of self-aggrandisement, but to inspire the public to actually participate in their own liberation, as he has done.

Now is the time for all of his supporters to prepare for the best case scenario - Obama as president. For his part, he has already done much, weathering a barrage of ridiculous attacks, and fighting back by re-focusing attention on the issues that concern us most. So will we have his back when he's in office? These insecure little people will not vaporize and go away once he's in office. They will keep plotting scheming to discredit the man. Will we let them sway us and join the chorus of "haters." When Obama tries to pass legislation, to clean house in the White House, to pass ethics reforms, will we keep the pressure on our elected officials, senators and congresspeople, to support him in these endeavors?

Sometimes, negroes are fickle. They like you one day, and if you blink wrong, they're against you the next. I, for one, am in it for the long haul. Contrary to what some believe, not every Obama supporter thinks he's a deity. Ultimately he's simply a human being, and he is bound to stumble from time to time. But it's his very humanity that's part of what makes him appealing in a nation that has been dehumanized by the actions of the current president. So as beautiful as we see him now, I hope that he remains beautiful in our eyes and appreciated through all the challenges to come.

Plagiarism? Another Stupid Billary Trick....

By now we've all heard about yet another desperate Billary tactic - accusing Obama of plagiarism. But I think Obama himself addressed this best when he said this at last Thursday's debate:

"The notion I had plagiarized from someone who is one of my national co-chairs who gave me the line and suggested I use it I think is silly. This is where we get into silly season in politics and people start getting discouraged about it."

In addition, Gov. Deval Patrick, the man Obama is accused of bitin' had this to say (thanks to "Desert Rose" for alerting me to this video. Hope you become a regular contributor!)....



"If your candidacy is based only on words, they should be your own words" - Billary.

To Billary:

Trick, please! The only one convinced Obama is all words is you, and that's because your disease of white racism (which actually is a mental illness) makes it so that you can't quite see or understand why your white skin hasn't afforded you the privilege of simply TAKING the nomination for yourself easily. This was not supposed to happen, and now your shook. Obama was not supposed to have a chance in heck in getting passed Iowa, let alone this far. And now he's won 10 PRIMARIES IN A ROW - so what's up now, huh? Are you trying to say that the whole dang country is totally caught up on "just words."

No, that ain't it. Obama is an excellent orator, and has a great friend in Deval Patrick (who to his credit, didn't let that she-devil on GMA trip him up), but that's not the reason he's beating her in these primaries. It's that he's presenting fresh, progressive ideas, in a clearer way than any other candidate, Black or white, has done in years. Billary, on the other hand, has no original ideas. True, she and Barack share similar policy views, but for whatever reason she presents in a way that NOBODY BELIEVES HER they way they do Barack.

I'll never forget when they interviewed this Hawaiian woman on the news and she said "We have something called the aloha spirit, and Obama has it." When they asked her if Billary had it, she just stared for a moment, then just said "no" and shook her head.

TO BILLARY: It's a wrap! Go out gracefully like a lady (if you can).

Fighting Words

Hmph! These some FIGHTING WORDS in my neighborhood. What do YOU think?.....

Billary: "Lifting whole passages is not change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox."

Billary: "I’ll see you in Ohio..."

Billary: "Enough of the speeches and the big rallies!"

Next this chic is gonna say some –ish like “Enough with the big words.” I mean, what is she thinking? Dude’s got big rallies because PEOPLE LIKE HIM!!! Billary, get a clue. You criticize (and most recently tried to scandalize) his speeches, but if you had anything CONVINCING and COMPELLING to say, you’d have big rallies, too. Don’t hate Obama because he can move the crowd. Your criticism emplies that he has nothing of substance to say on the issues. Well if that’s the case, then over half of the country has been swayed, which would mean that this guy is that good, or that you're that wack. Either way, it still leaves you behind.

Going negative ain't gonna help. Fact is, depite all your mud slinging and instigating, YOU CANNOT GET THIS MAN SHOOK. He has kept is composure in every forum and conducted himself with grace and dignity. I for one think that the American public is tapping into the fact that your increasingly nasty and inflammatory remarks are a sign of desperation. And girl, desperation is not a good look for you.

Score Card: Obama in the lead. Period.

One of the worse things about being away from you for so long was not sharing the excitement over what the faithful always knew would happen (provided that this election is run FAIRLY)...Obama is in the lead:

Obama: 1, 192 delegates

Clinton: 1, 036 delegates

[source]

Remember peeps, here at G-n-B you get it straight, no chaser. No SUPER-DELEGATE confusion. As of today, Obama is in the lead in terms of delegates ALLOTTED BY THE VOTES OF THE PEOPLE.

If Barack keeps on this winning streak and crushes the competition on March 4 in Texas and Ohio, it's basically a wrap.

UNLESS Billary tries to play one of her parlor tricks and cheat Obama out of the nomination by

1) Having the Florida and Michigan delegates counted (even though she knew DANG WELL that those states would be penalized for having their primaries early), AND/OR

2) Pulling strings with Super-Delegates to get them to vote for her, DESPITE THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.

You might be thinking, "Oh, no super delegate would vote for Billary if the majority of their constituents voted for Obama." Well, normally, the backlash from the voters would be enough to convince someone to go the path of the popular vote. However, one has to keep in mind that A LOT OF PEOPLE OWE BILLARY A FAVOR. Especially some of our well-established Negro politicians. Every time you see big business, so-called "gentrification," and other "improvements" in a Black neighborhood, you better believe there's some Negro politician somewhere who's sold his soul (and super delegate vote) to get it. Don't let them get away with it! If you know that one of your local politicians just happen to be a super delegate, WRITE TO THEM AND URGE THEM VOTE IN A WAY THAT REFLECTS THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.

Garden State Lady suggests this resource to help get your voice heard (click here). Thanks, GSL!

And....WE'RE BACK!!!!

After a not so brief pause, Grits-N-Butta is back!

And this time with a few folk who I hope will continue to weigh in with their own commentary on a regular basis. Even though we don't always agree, I think the different points of view will add balance and some spice.

And not for nothin', it makes it a heck of a lot easier to keep up you up to date with the latest breezy and greasy when you've got a little help. All the more better when it comes from AROUND THE COUNTRY. Thanks again to Black Utah Dude, Garden State Lady, and all the others who've encouraged me to keep the Grits-N-Butta cooking!