Don't go there. That way madness lies.

It's not too late. Though the last week or so has seen endless diaries here trying to accuse Obama of playing the race card first (all based on one discredited and disowned memo from the South Carolina primary cited in Huffington Post) the broader picture emerging is of Hillary using race as the last card...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/ 2008/apr/28/hillaryclinton.usa

I don't want to believe it. I definitely don't think that her and Bill are racists. But there are some principles so important to the health of US civil society that you should never break them in the pursuit of power. I don't for a moment believe that the bulk of Hillary supporters are racist, and I'm hoping the counter reaction - accusing Obama of being a racist too - will soon die down. But point scoring on such a historically catastrophic issue, one that underpins the tragedies of slavery, civil war, segregation and the worst political violence of the 60s, is like juggling nitro with glycerine

Don't go there. That way madness lies.

It's friday night. Time for some fun. Just as Bill Clinton defined his modernity by playing Sax, Barack Obama has defined himself as a newer generation in a gesture which some have wilfully misconstrued as the finger, but is just brushing the dirt off, like JayZ.

I expect flames. I expect charges of superficiality (yeah, like Hillary going on SNL). But if we can enjoy, which I did, Hillary downing those shots in PA, just enjoy for a moment the smile and the brush off in Indiana

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yel8IjOAd Sc&eurl

Much has been made about other candidates foreign policy credentials, but those in the know keep on backing Obama. Former senators Sam Nunn and David Boren have just joined the list

Link to TPM

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsm emo.com/2008/04/nunn_and_boren_back_obam a.php

I'm British with deep American roots and connections. I swung over to Obama last year when I heard him talk about foreign policy, and I always admired his brave out of step stance on Iraq in 2002.

It seems plenty of other people are waking up to him

Phew! And that's not the sound of bullets flying past, it's my response to the ever increasing speed of this primary season. Previously, with other 'scandals in a bottle' - plagiarism, Reverend Wright - it took a week or so for the rumpus to die down and Hillary to make her own gaffe such as Tuzla.

But before Bittergate is a few days old, Hillary has come out shooting, and aimed right at her left foot. According to Huffington Post:

Pressed on whether she truly believes Obama is an elitist, Clinton called him "a good man," but recalled the narratives of the 2000 and 2004 president election.

"You don't have to think back too far to remember that good men running for president were viewed as being elitist and out of touch with the values and lives of millions of Americans," she said.

Mea culpa. My bad. I prematurely wrote a diary What happened to the MYDD Cesspool of Hate celebrating the fact that democratic principles had triumphed over candidate partisanship. After all, we're constantly told that on policies there's not much to separate the candidates. Noted Hillary and Obama supporters were suddenly being nice to each other.

And then along came the Nixonian moment. The 1950s Checkers moment: Liberals wear fur coats/drink lattes/are elitist/condescend to poor voters. This is an old republican meme, and last used by George W, the good ole boy you want to have a beer with, the 'I'm not afraid to be stupid' MAD candidate. And what happens?

Had Hillary been subjected to some bitch/witch attack by Republicans, you can bet that just like in the 90s, I would rally round. McCain gets in there, trying the old wedge divisions. And what does Hillary do...?

She plays the Nixonian moment. She does a speech which mentions America so many times, she effectively accuses Obama of being UnAmerican...

Meanwhile back on MYDD...

I love this. First Obama wasn't Muslim, "as far as we know". Then he's under the spell of a rabid fire-breathing Evangelical preacher. First he wasn't black enough. Then he was playing the race card, and a closet separatist. Then he was lying about his resume: he wasn't a law professor. Now he's too 'elitist'.

What's next? First he was too Reaganite. Now he's too liberal.

Obama defies every attempt to 'frame' him in the classic conservative triangulating manner of the 90s. Why? Because he's a change candidate. He doesn't fit in the box. And every attempt to pigeon hole him just proves the opposite.

So bring it on MYDD.

Credit where credit is due, the title of this diary is lifted from the famous Bob Johnson diary where he excoriated this site for some of its nastier posts. There's no need to follow that theme: Something has happened since that diary, maybe because of it.

Certainly some of the more virulent contributors (who I'm pretty sure were just sowing discord for discord's sake) have been booted. And then something even more amazing has happened, a rapprochement: I'm particularly thinking of Sricki's diary yesterday and the comments that followed it.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/4/9/22273 7/8142

But more of that in a moment.

Full disclosure first: I'm a keen Obama supporter - have been since his speech to the convention in 2004, and since then a close friend became quite high up in his campaign. Before 2003, I would have been completely for Hillary, having followed and supported the Clintons (with some reservations) through the 90s. Given my bias, what the hell am I doing here?

I've posted two diaries on this subject now, and though there have been some thoughtful responses from Democrats supporting either candidate, there have also been numerous attempts to suggest Hillary was FOR intervention when all the evidence suggests she was not .

If you want to discuss the merits of intervention etc, you can check out my other diary

But here I am specifically talking about Hillary's role in the war itself and how this explains her distortions in the Tuzla story. This speaks to both her experience and her judgement.

I have been accused of 'rewriting history' on this. As the sources prove, including now a quote from Bill himself, this is an example of transference. Those who say Hillary was pro-intervention have rewritten history. I hope this will settle the matter. Hillary's sin was not just lying, but also covering up a truth - her involvement in prolonging the Bosnian war.

Just to reiterate: I'm not pushing this issue for simple hit diary reasons. I think, as a potential presidential nominee for the worlds remaining superpower, you should be held accountable for your rhetoric, and any past actions - especially if they involve the biggest war and genocide in Europe since World War II.

The link to the previous diary is here
http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/3/31/1623 39/309

And the relevant quotes below the fold.