Hillary Must Rescue Herself from the DLC

Victim abuse by outsiders is not the cause of Hillary's weeping. The primary reason for great lamenting is the fact that Senator Clinton is a captive of her own Democratic Leadership Council (DLC).

Women are not always the automatic underdogs. Eve played an equal opportunity role in the original critical negotiations in Eden. Joan of Arc heard voices when frightened men were afraid to listen. Black Harriet Tubman operating the Underground Railroad in the savage days of slavery defined courage far better than any battlefield soldier. The French painter Delacroix's female Liberty Leading the People was a powerful symbol of radical change.

We Democratic voters and members of the Peace Movement are not unjustly persecuting the Senator. Rivers of tears have already been cried by all of us -- more women than men -- whose hearts have been broken by her behavior over the past five years. Her poor constituents in New York City are crying because in her earmarking decisions she chose to make them invisible. The Million Moms who marched to Washington demanding new gun laws are still waiting to hear her powerful continuous voice of support.

Legions of Hillary Clinton's former followers, women and men, held high hopes that she would announce some significant adjustment of her position on the Iraq War to justify their striving for a reconciliation with her. But she has remained chained to the neo-con influenced positions of the DLC.

Among Hillary's abandoned children tears flowing for much too long have now turned to brine. Most of her orphans now realize that the frantic attempts to reach her were made hopeless by her phalanx of DLC guards. Among her most trusted confidants there are too many super brains with wilted souls.

Contempt for inspiration and idealism. This is the mindset of the DLC. They are a combination of cold, career-mongering whiz kids and stubborn elderly conservatives who have never realized their mediocrity. What matters most is money. Play it safe and down the middle. Use your cash to drown the opposition. For them causes are merely cute puzzles and great ideas are cheap sparkling ornaments for speeches. Arrogance and insensitivity are trademarks of the DLC.

As we approach the January 21st Congressional Black Caucus Presidential debate it must be remembered that during the eight years of the Clinton administration the CBC often felt it was dealing with two White Houses. One was run by the Clintons; the other had been hijacked by the DLC. The earliest clash occurred when, during the controversial Lani Guinier nomination, the CBC requested a meeting with President Clinton and received a sharp reply: "The president will not meet with the CBC this week, next week, or any time during the foreseeable future." But a few days later a meeting at the White House was arranged.

Later, following an unfavorable ruling by the Supreme Court curbing affirmative action there was a noisy scramble at the White House to retreat from its established position on this vital issue. A direct appeal by the CBC to the President avoiding the DLC negative advocates resulted in a series of negotiations that concluded with: "Affirmative Action, Mend It Don't End It."

One of the Deans of the DLC, Secretary of Education Richard Riley, repeatedly issued long statements that insisted that school construction and modernization were matters to be left to state and local governments; while in a State of the Union Address, President Clinton called for funds to repair 5,000 schools and funds to build 6,000 new schools.

There are numerous other examples of the split personality syndrome created at the White House by the DLC. The Clintons often made important corrections but when she moved to the Senate Hillary retained too many of these energetic masters of the status quo. She appears to be blind to the trail of bitterness their mischief often leaves behind. Howard Wolfson, a close confidant, announced that he felt duty bound in the Summer of 2006 to join a congressional campaign in Brooklyn where a DLC favorite son, David Yassky, had changed his residence and moved into a Voting Rights District with a million and a half campaign dollars. Appeals to Hillary requesting a statement of policy support for the intended minority representation purpose of the Voting Rights Law were never answered.

At that same time, a DLC White House graduate, now a powerful force in the House leadership circle, Rahm Emmanuel, publicly advocated a reduction of minority representation standards in the Voting Rights Districts from 60 per cent to 35 per cent. Shoving aside the legacy of the Civil Rights struggle he insists that Blacks should compete like they did before Martin Luther King.

No one can beat the Clintons in sincere equal opportunity socializing -- and this is greatly appreciated by the Black community. But when the DLC phalanx around her prevents the emergence of a high level advisor who knows the difference between two famous Black heroines of history, Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman, there is an inevitable erosion of that admiration.

Barack Obama entered a neglected mine filled with precious ore which the DLC drones had no capacity to detect. Among the diverse troops who march with Obama fund-raising has not been rejected as irrelevant; however, it has not been assigned the exalted position of the eighth wonder of the world. Hillary is surrounded by troops who prematurely froze into mindsets of cynicism. Her advisors came of age out of the reach of the voices of John and Robert Kennedy. They prefer to become masters of the world as it is -- and take no risks in a struggle to make the world what it ought to be. Hillary must rescue herself from the DLC.

Comments

[Nutcase]

Your blog makes excellent points but Obama has passed Clinton in donations from some industries, particularly the drug industry. Obama is a neophyte in some aspects of campaigning but while in the state legislature he took money from the health insurance industry while helping them rewrite a bill more to their liking. Both of these candidates are heavily indebted to corporations. That plus ties to the DLC and very similar voting records makes it appear to be a case of Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum.

I seriously doubt either would throw off the shackles they have so readily donned.

cognito ergo populistae

[larry278]

The comments show that many of us think that her Hillaryship is the DLC. The culinary workers in Vegas seem to agree with us.

[clevelandchick]

Rep. Owens,

Thank you for this fantastic slice of truth about who the Clintons and the DLC really are. Everytime I hear someone say that 'Bill Clinton was the first black president' I just cringe. After reading your post about the treatment of the CBC by the Clinton White House and the DLC, I am beyond disgusted.

[Orikinla]

Rep. Major R. Owens,

It would be most beneficial if Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton read your article.

I believe you can reach her and I can tell you that she is really sincere and will listen to you.

If I, a Nigerian on Bonny Island in the Gulf of Guinea, can reach her through her campaign manager, then you should even do better than me.

I support Hillary Clinton, because as you have noted, in her heart, soul and spirit, she means well.
All the negative posts and commentaries on the Clintons have been made by those who are ignorant of them.

Former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton are household names in most countries in Africa for their charities. They have changed millions of lives in rural communities in Africa and we appreciate them.

Go and meet with HRC and she would be pleased to learn from you.

God bless you.

[BUSHsurvivor]

How can you run a country from the far left and still be uniter? Somebody is gonna get left out. But, I guess it sounds good for now!

I'm a uniter, not a divider!

Now where have we all heard that before?

[flatus]

Dems Loving Corporations

[southmpls]

The DLC and the DNC barely speak to one another. Rahm Emanuel is eating crow now that Howard Dean's 50-state strategy is really working. The Clintonian triangulation is a page right out of the DLC. That's why it's so hard to get specific plans out of Hillary. She wants to be all things to all people, what Howard Dean describes as "Republican lite." When you're Republican lite, the Democrats will lose --every time.

Is an Obama/Edwards ticket a possibility?

[freya100]

"Women are not always the automatic underdogs. Eve played an equal opportunity role in the original critical negotiations in Eden."

You cite fictional characters to say women are equal players??

[flatus]

What no honorable mention for our DLC proponents of waterboarding, "Di" Feinstein and Chucky Schumer?

[LeeFromVA]

Nothing would be better for the Democratic party than an Obama Presidency. He could be the President of everybody, Hillary can only be a President of the blue states (figuratively, of course).

[larry278]

Rep Owens's words which are published by HP attract readable, sometimes very critical, comments. It is doubtful if the editors at HP who monitor comments allow only favorable comments to appear. Reading well written prose improves the reader's writing too.

[Alanlak]

The first poster had it right. Hillary IS the DLC, she has no interest in changing now or in the future. Obama is a DLC newcomer, whose policies on foreign relations and health care are almost impossible to distinguish from Hillary's. My feeling is that Obama does a better version of Bill Clinton charisma than Hillary does, with the faintest dash of populism thrown in for good measure.

If the columnist here is so interested in the Congressional Black Caucus, why doesn't he consider supporting Dennis Kucinich? He has the best voting record on Congressional Black Caucaus agenda items than any of the other candidates. But African-Americans are not warming to him. Go figure!

[knosiswar]

I like the framing Rep. Owens, because we know that Hillary IS the DLC. And she will never leave their policies or ways of thinking, because she IS a Goldwater Girl, a traitor to the cause.

[tkk]

Why should she rescue herself from the DLC? Barack Obama is the biggest DLCer in the country and the liberals and the press love him. They don't even look at what he says and does, they've decided he's it.

Obama announces to the world he's like RONALD REAGAN, but the Obamanians say Hillary is "republican-lite." Please.

Can you say HYPOCRITE.

[Opus007]

I think that only 20 or 25% of average Democrats even know that the DLC exists. It's hard to solve a problem that is not even identified. Amazingly, I've talked to Republicans that have no idea what a NeoCon is and have never even heard of PNAC.
The most dramatic change we could make in this country is publicly funded elections and get the corporations and lobbyists out of it completely. They are heavily invested in our polictical process and they will not go without a fight. We are the last country that should preaching "Democracy" while we are marginalizing candidates by excluding them from debates. We need more than elections- we need a revolution. A total wake up call.