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Along with Matt Stoller, former staffer for Alan Grayson (D-FL), another prominent Democrat refuses to support the uniparty this election.
In a recent interview, Camille Paglia got downright Firebaggery.
From Salon:
You’re getting an exclusive, because I haven’t said a word about this publicly. Journalists have tried to get me to comment, and I’ve refused, because I’ve been saving it for Salon!
OK: Who are you going to vote for?
I am voting for the Green Party.
Oh, you are? I don’t even know who the Green candidate is. Who is it?
Jill Stein — a doctor from Massachusetts. Now, I wouldn’t be voting Green if Roseanne Barr had won the nomination, but Stein is a solid and sensible candidate. I don’t agree with everything the Green Party says, but I’m in tune with many of its basic positions. I’m remaining a registered Democrat because I still hope for the reform of my party.
…
Hence I want to use my vote to make a statement about my unhappiness with the Democratic Party and the direction it has taken. The biggest issue for me is the Obama administration’s continuation of endless war, war, war.
…
I have been revolted by the silence of the liberal mainstream media about Obama’s expansion of war.
Sound familiar? She’s got a lot of company with people who share the same sentiment.
Please read the whole interview. She’s got some great thoughts on how conservatives have replaced liberals as the group who champions freedom, the liberal establishment, and of course the art world.
23 Comments
Not a very compelling argument for art replacing religion. And she seems to be pretty shoddy on her understanding of the sham interest of the Right in “liberty”. One might even consider her endorsement to be unhinged and counter-productive.
Her endorsement of Jill shows she has a grasp of the policies of the Uniparty.
Civil Rights – http://newprogs.org/blog/2011/11/09/civil-rights-under-democraticrepublican-uni-party
Economy – http://newprogs.org/blog/2011/11/10/economy-under-democraticrepublican-uni-party
Economic Graphs – http://newprogs.org/blog/2012/03/02/economic-graphs
Education – http://newprogs.org/blog/2012/01/14/education-under-democraticrepublican-uni-party
Election Reform – http://newprogs.org/blog/2012/10/01/election-reform
Environment – http://newprogs.org/blog/2011/11/08/environment-under-democraticrepublican-uni-party
Health Care – http://newprogs.org/blog/2012/04/03/health-care-under-democraticrepublican-uniparty
Transparency – http://newprogs.org/blog/2012/02/27/transparency-under-democraticrepublican-uni-party
Unions – http://newprogs.org/blog/2012/02/05/unions-under-democraticrepublican-uni-party
War – http://newprogs.org/blog/2011/11/11/wars-under-democraticrepublican-uni-party
I’m glad of Paglia’s endorsement of someone other than “Black” Romney, but her use of “my party” in referring to the Democrats is troubling. It’s indicative of the sadly tribalistic nature of modern America’s politics…”My party, right or wrong.”
Newsflash, Camille: when “your party” stops representing what you believe in, it is no longer “your party”.
The Democratic Party is dead. Deal with it.
The editor-in-chief doesn’t even know who the Green candidate is?! Isn’t Salon supposed to be a Left-leaning political publication? How can he hold such a job, and admit that he doesn’t even know who’s running?
She’s pretty sharp, but I did not hear her call for a rejection of Obama’s austerity platform, the Simpson-Bowles push to cut social programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and so on:
She could always read THIS.
But maybe she did not know that she was participating in a political interview? Give her the benefit of the doubt. And that her words would travel so far and even to here, in firedoglake land? Give her the benefit of the doubt. And credit for being so insightful in so many other areas.
I can’t see Camille Paglia’s name anywhere without reminding people of this.
I was taken aback by Paglia’s criticism of foreign aid, a criticism lumped in with the war, war, war meme.
From the linked Salon interview;
I can’t take anyone seriously who conflates foreign aid which is actually around 1% of our budget, with what should obviously be understood as defense spending.
How can a supposed leading intelectual excuse the use of the words ‘foreign aid’, when what she obviously means is something quite different?
Thanks for that Marion, Molly will always be one of my heroes.
I often need reminders in order to stay between-the-ditches, so to speak, and Molly never failed me on that point.
Thank you!! LOL… behold the wonder of Molly Ivins, RIP.
I’ve never been a fan of Paglia, although my ability to explain why pales in comparison to Ivins’ usual greatness. Amen.
Hey: if Paglia is voting for Dr. Stein: good for her. I may do so as well. That said, the fact that the likes of Paglia saying she’s voting Third Party does NOTHING to encourage others to do so as well.
No fan of Paglia, myself… a narcissistic sociopath if there ever was one.
LOL, thanks for that : ) I sure miss Molly.
Recommended in support of Stein and and for the treat of reading classic Ivins : ) As for Paglia, I have never considered her opinion of any interest.
I would also like to point out, as did normanb, my shock that the Salon writer of a piece on the Presidential election does not even know who is running. That ought to be embarrassing and never admitted in public. But no. This idiot publishes that fact.
Is it any wonder I deleted my Salon bookmark after Glenn went to the Guardian?
Camille Paglia has the ability to keep people talking about her. This is not a compliment – not when you consider Sarah Palin has perfected the same skill.
And good god, I miss Molly Ivins.
Yeah – hearing that Paglia’s voting for Stein makes me wonder if I should reconsider. :) I am sure her main reason for doing so is to get us talking about her. And here we are. But I am not going to read the interview; I already read way too much of Camille’s dreck back in the days when Salon had better dreck. I did click through to see what “journalist” would come right out and say he didn’t know who the Green Party candidate was. Kerry Lauerman. Of course.
On the other hand, I read every word of Molly’s take-down and, as usual, she has it exactly right: Paglia is a “crassly egocentric, raving twit.” (Thank you, Marion; I miss Molly like crazy, too.)
I didn’t know this lady at all, and I will agree she is a very mixed bag, just from reading the interview – thank you for supplying it.
I do agree with her on the war issue above all else, and with wendydavis’s reminder that we had Terror Tuesday on which Obama chooses targets for assassination in mind, the following posted comment from an article on Pakistani drone strikes at commondreams.org. This, along with the article describing a blowback assassination of an embassy worker in Yemen spells it out for me – stronger language than I would use but the sentiment in general is one I agree with:
Holygeezer • an hour ago
“But President Obama said the drones are “kept on a very tight leash” and that without their use, “more intrusive military action” would be necessary.
I ask why is this necessary? Simply because the puppet masters demand this for their war profiteering!? What a lying sack of shit Obama is. Is it too much to ask for one honest politician in this country? Just one? I voted for the sociopath and regret it to this day. I believed the hope and change bullshit. I am clearly part of the problem for having supported such a corrupt system by voting in fraudulent elections. Fraudulent in the sense that both parties don’t serve the citizens, but the corporate fuckers who love to kill in the name of profit. God damn this whole fucking system. It is too far gone to save now. As much I don’t want to live with the consequences, the best thing that can happen at this point is for a total economic and political collapse to stop the madness that is destroying the very fabric of life on earth. It is time to not only throw the money changers out of the temple, but to put all their heads on pikes once and for all. Sorry for the rant, but I am feeling pissed off today.”
I will just add that my only disagreement with the above is that with all this in mind I will still vote for Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala. The part that resonates with me is:
“I voted for the sociopath and regret it to this day.”
That part resonates with me as well, Juliania, thank you for sharing it. The rest of it resonates just as much. I’m still deciding whether to vote or not; if I do vote, it will be for Jill and Cheri.
Thanks, hotflashcarol, and thanks also to Marion in Savannah for directing us to Molly Ivins’ review. Ah, the immortal Molly! I think her “I am the cosmos too” is a lovely adjunct to “We are the 99%”. She told it the way it was. And I love it that she didn’t know who the lady was either.
That might be the best part of the entire article; poor Camille must have been up all night fuming that Molly didn’t know who she was.
I can’t even imagine what Molly would be saying today. I know she wouldn’t be able to justify the drone wars.
The more I use the whip, the less I have to use the gun.
Well, that settles it right?
He wears his ignorance proudly, as a badge saying “I’m stupid in all the right places, that’s how I got this cool job in the mainstream media.”
Paglia’s a flash from the ’90s when her politically incorrect feminism was a nice, cool breath of fresh air. Always a seemingly contradictory mash of perspectives, she’s still very interesting to read and try to figure out.
Her second reason for opposing Obama is also great …
An “endorsement” by Paglia? Now that is one low-down, dirty political trick.
Now that’s what Molly mightta said! Good on you, UCT1.
+99! Say it, woman!
Okay, I’m Philly born and raised and had never heard of Paglia until now. But she has dissed Carolyn Heilbrun, and that’s pretty much all I need to know in terms of what some (apparently) consider her gift for literary criticism.
All of that being said, if it’s one more vote for Jill, it’s fine with me! Diversity is a virtue, and I totally support her harsh assessment of Roseanne, who should get back the nut farm post friggin’ haste.