I hope everyone else here is as shocked and angry at NBC's latest "reality" show, "The Baby Borrowers." NBC has gone right past taking advantage of unfortunate adults for entertainment purposes and directly into child abuse by taking children who are far too young to understand what's happening away from their parents for 3 days.

If you have any shred of doubt that this is actual child abuse, below the fold is a letter from people who know about child abuse first-hand, those dedicated to taking care of children.

Please contact NBC, and especially it's sponsors, and tell them how outrageous it is for a national TV network to engage in child abuse. List of sponsors and contact info is below the fold.
NBC makes it difficult to just e-mail them. you go to this page:
http://www.nbc.com/Footer/Contact_Us/

crossposted at Big Orange Satan

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All over the country, pundits, politicians, and probably even Barack Obama himself are asking the same question:

What do Hillary Clinton supporters want?

Now is the time to contact the Obama campaign or surrogates directly and give them the answer to that question.

Of course the Clinton supporters will have to decide how to answer that question, and for many the only answer will have to do with giving Clinton the veep spot or another high level post. but i would respectfully suggest that it is time to move beyond support for a single candidate and ask Obama to address ALL feminist issues.

And there will NEVER be a better time to do it than right now.

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[editor's note, by catchaz](crossposted at DailyKos)

As a supporter of Barack Obama i would like to suggest it is WAY past time that Obama supporters took the lead in addressing the blatant sexism coming from both our fellow Obama supporters and the Main Stream Media. (i say "fellow" because i haven't seen much sexism from female Obama suporters.)

The sexism pouring forth from the MSM has been absolutely sickening. asswipes like Chris Matthews have led the charge, but i don't think any honest Obama supporter can deny the sexism that has permeated the coverage of the campaign. and of course, even worse is the sexism that comes from Obama supporters, some of whom just cannot think of insults that don't attack all women.

I actually hope that Clinton supporters will similarly take the lead in addressing racism, but we need a Clinton supporter to make that call.
But what anti-racist Clinton supporters and anti-sexist Obama supporters have in common is that they can all easily admit that racism and sexism have played a hideous and divisive role in this contest WITHOUT signing on to the idea that the reason Clinton lost was sexism, or that all criticism of Obama is racist.

personally i do believe that the MSM and SOME Obama supporters have been hideously sexist, but that sexism was not the reason for Clinton's loss. (i think most people who wouldn't vote for Clinton because she's a woman also wouldn't vote for Obama because he's Black.) Likewise, i personally do not believe that all anti-Obama criticism is based on racism.

I think there is a lot of middle ground for supporters of both candidates to admit the racism and sexism that has flourished in this campaign, without denying the other reasons besides sexism that Obama won or the other reasons besides racism that led people to support Clinton.

So to repeat, i ask my fellow and sister Obama supporterts to PLEASE call out any sexism we see from other Obama supporters, and to call out the misogynistic pigs in the MSM who are dancing on Hillary Clinton's political grave because they are sexist assholes.
Fighting sexism is a DEMOCRATIC issue, not just a Clinton issue. if we don't fight sexism we don't deserve to be called Democrats.

It Is Time to join together to fight the sexist media, and the woman-hating ReThugs.

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This campaign, which with the first female and first African American to have a realistic shot at the Democratic nomination, (and first Hispanic if you feel Richardson had a chance) should have been the best of times. Instead, the rampant excuse of racism and sexism from INSIDE OUR party has made it at times the worst of times. I have never seen so many so-called progressives turn their backs on issues of importance to Democrats.

The wholesale denial of sexism from some of Obama's supporters was a hideous betrayal of progressive values. Likewise, the complete denial of racism, and even open embrace of it from SOME Clinton supporters was at odds with decades of Democratic priorities and values.

I'd like to think that after the nomination is settled, we'd go back to fighting racism and sexism TOGETHER. i am 100% certain that a President Clinton would do her part to fight racism, mostly by appointing progressive judges. Likewise, i am 100% certain that a President Obama would do his part to fight sexism, again, mostly by appointing progressive judges.

But i fear we will not get to that point. the racism fanned by SOME in the Clinton campaign and surrogates like Geraldine Ferraro is threatening to put all efforts to fight sexism and racism in serious jeopardy as too many so-called progressives have now gone through the looking glass to fight on the other side, some acknowledging that they are working to elect John McCain if Clinton is not the Democratic nominee.

While many claim this is the result of bitterness, i think this is a complete cop-out. this can only be the result of one thing: RACISM. many ex-Democrats have been whipped into a retro-racist fury by the seedy racists masquerading as Clinton supporters. make no mistake, these are racists in sheep's clothing. they care little or nothing about Clinton, they are just using her as an excuse to let their racist feelings out. Real Clinton supporters care as much about racism as any good Democrat.

But have no doubt, these racists CAN SWING THIS ELECTION TO MCCAIN.
If enough Democrats join the racist anti-Obama movement, the racists (who in many if not most cases are just as sexist as they are racist) will ride this wave of racism straight into the White House.

If you are a racist, none of these things matter. if you are not, then you damn well better speak out now and stop this sickness before it spreads further inside our party and leads to a McCain presidency. which would mean the end of any moves toward Affirmative Action (which benefits white women as much as anyone), any semblance of reproductive freedom, and any chance of ending the war in Iraq.

It is up to Democrats. this election is ours for the taking. the only way we can lose is if enough Democrats succumb to these racist impulses and desert the ticket, and desert all semblance of human decency. right now, far too many seem to be doing this. it will have DIRE consequences for our country, consequences no loyal Democrat or progressive could ever stomach.

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Update [2008-5-27 16:25:2 by catchaz]: this diary is NOT aimed at the fair-minded supporters of Hillary Clinton. it is NOT a call for her to drop out. it IS an indictment of the dishonest nature of almost all arguments about dlegates and popular vote.

The Lying, Cheating wing of the Democratic party is still out there, in full swing. Lanny Davis is out there, lying openly about what's "fair" in Florida and Michigan.  To him, what fair is to give Clinton almost all the delegates, and the nomination.

The lying cheating math-abusing wing is also out there. they are the ones who say there are several different "metrics" in counting popular votes. again, what they basically want is to count the votes of those who voted for Clinton, but not those who voted for Obama.

Most disgusting is that these liars and cheaters, along with their racist friends, are now "threatening" to leave the party if their lying cheating candidate, Hillary Clinton, is not GIVEN the nomination she failed to win despite all the advantages an establishment insider could ever dream of.

Leave already! the damage these DLC types have done to our party, and thus our nation, over the last decades is monumental. Yes, in the 90's Bill Clinton gave us good court appointments. and the courts are to me the most important branch of the government, so that's no small thing. but because of their hideous policies and politics we have now lost what gains we made on the courts, and lost everything else.
Finally, after the Clinton-led party lost the Congress it had held for 40 years, and lost 2 straight presidential elections, Democrats won in 2006 by being proud Democrats.

So it's way past time we stop "courting" these DLC sellouts and their lying cheating candidates, from Lieberman to Clinton, and turn this party back into a party that cares about the people, not the power.

Hillary Clinton has done everything she could do to thwart the will of the Democratic voters. She's done it OPENLY, with not even a hint of shame at the dishonesty and cheating she is openly espousing. she does not deserve our support, she damn sure doesn't need our money to pay her debts, and she damn sure doesn't belong anywhere NEAR the Democratic ticket in 2008.

CHANGE is what we need. Change from the Bush ReThugs, and change from the Clinton DLC Dems.

PLEASE call or write or e-mail Senator Obama's campaign and tell him to say NO, THANKS, to the ridiculous idea of putting Clinton on the ticket. she could only help the ReThugs, as she's doing now.

It is time to get our party past the ReThug-lite era of Clintonism, and on to a PROGRESSIVE future. the Clintonites are NOT EVER going to be on board for that. so let's quit wasting our time and MOVE ON to those Americans who still care about building a progressive future for their country and our party.

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This has been one of the saddest things to watch. A person who was respected, admired, and supported by so many progressive Americans becoming so desperate for power that she resorts to the politics of division and blatant race-baiting to try to get that power.

     "The Clinton campaign has intentionally inflamed these simmering antagonisms: black versus Hispanic, black versus white, black versus older women, white collar versus blue collar, young versus old, under-educated versus college grad...For the dull-witted, Clinton's surrogates are sent out spell it out in capital letters. Obama used cocaine (Bob Johnson). Obama's middle name is "Hussein" (Bob Kerrey).  Obama is a master of "shuck and jive" (Andrew Cuomo). Obama is another Jesse Jackson (Bill Clinton)." ~ Jeffrey St. Clair

This campaign has brought out the worst of the sexism and racism that we all know still haunts America. the sexism has come from Obama supporters and, especially, the media. The racism has come from Clinton supporters, the media, and unfortunately the Clinton campaign and Clinton herself. Thus, the idea that Obama will pick Hillary Clinton as veep is one of the most ridiculous things i've ever read. the first ticket headed by an African American will certainly NOT have a race-baiter in the veep slot.

Clinton as veep?
can you say HELL NO?
i can.
and Obama can.
yes he can.

Update [2008-5-23 13:36:33 by catchaz]: in response to comments: yes, Clinton has lost. so what's the point of this diary? to shame those seemingly shameless Dems who are willing to embrace or excuse racism to win elections. The people complaining and writing about the disgusting sexism in the media nd from Obama supporters are RIGHT. and their words are important because what the fuck good are Dems who don't fight sexism? the people writing and complaining about the racism that came directly from the Clinton campaign are RIGHT. and their words are important because what the fuck good are Dems who don't fight racism?

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Oh, yeah! what a treat to come to a Democratic site and find all these so-called feminists professing their desire to vote for John McCain! what a brilliant, astute, feminist choice to make!

So, for all those McCain supporters, here's John McCain's wonderful feminist view of women and children.

This is YOUR new candidate in action:

"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?
Because Janet Reno is her father."

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An investigation by the Texas Attorney general into voter fraud has revealed alot of useful information, none of it related to voter fraud. The revealing information has to do with the partisan and racist nature of the Texas Attorney General's Office (surprise!)

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/ dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-votefraud_ 18tex.ART.State.Edition2.46e18c2.html

After a two-year campaign to "clean up rampant voter fraud" the AG found and prosecuted 26 minor violations, no major fraud was uncovered. (or, none was prosecuted.)
But more troubling was the breakdown of prosecutions:

The number of Democrats prosecuted out of the 26 cases:
Twenty-six. 100%

The number of cases dealing with Black and Hispanic voters:
"Almost all of them" (Dallas Morning News)

(And the article mentions one high profile case in a GOP district during an election concerning gay marriage that was ignored.)

My tax dollars at work, supporting the GOP in Texas and racists everywhere!

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As an Obama supporter, while i still have major problems with some aspects of Hillary Clinton's campaign, i have to give her credit for taking a turn into the positive with her recent campaign ads and some of her statements. she is NOT denigrating Obama or hurting the Democratic party's chances in the Fall.
Clinton's recent response to McBush's attacks on Obama were a wonderful and welcome sign of a candidate who MAY be ready to start healing our party and the divisions this campaign has exposed.

Likewise, Obama has stopped aiming fire at Clinton, and has even given her credit as he attacks McCain. another welcome development.

Two questions remain:
1) will Clinton's supporters do likewise, or, as we've seen WAY too much of here, will they continue to make themselves indistinguishable from ReThugs with their hateful, bitter, and patently dishonest attacks on Obama?

2) likewise, will the Obama supporters continue their ridiculous line of arguement that sexism hasn't played a significant role in this campaign?

if either group continues with their denial of reality, we are still in trouble. so let's hope supporters of BOTH candidates stop the ridiculous denial and infighting and get together to beat John McBush!

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Because the ReThugs are the Party of Institutionalized Bigotry, the Democrats have become the defacto Party Against Bigotry. This certainly does not mean that all Dem voters are fully on board with this fight against bigotry, but it certainly has meant that many women and most African Americans vote Democrat by default. it's not that they necessarily like or trust the Dems, it's just that they are voting AGAINST the GOP. and of course there are likewise alot of Angry White Men who vote against Dems for the same reason.

Because of this tendency for white men to vote GOP, Democrats CAN NOT WIN without substantial margins among women, and almost universal Black votes for Dems. it would be a very quick road to sure defeat so only a suicidal Dem would play up racism or sexism in our primary. But right now the speed at which SOME of Clinton's and Obama's more suicidal supporters are rushing to lead our party to defeat in November is just staggering.

Whether it is outright denial of the existence of and damage caused by racism or sexism, or the parroting of the hideous ReThug line that anyone who mentions racism/sexism is "playing the race/gender card," these insane Democrats are TOTALLY CEDING THESE ISSUES TO THE GOP. this will KILL us in November.

Look folks, we all now that racism and sexism exist in the US, and take a heavy toll on their victims. (only a complete freaking moron believes otherwise.) and we also know very well that the ReThugs will spend from now to election day saying they DON'T exist, and that anyone who believes otherwise is "playing the gender/race card." so why the hell would we cede them that central point of this campaign? but that is EXACTLY what too many Obama and Clinton supporters are doing.

These hideous fools are hurting our party in 2 ways. First, they are poisoning our party by injecting it with racism and sexism. can't get much worse than that, huh? but they are also hurting the party by saying the GOP is right, tarring anyone who fights AGAINST racism and sexism as "playing the race/gender card."

If we concede that the GOP is right, that the real problem with racism and sexism is not the actual racism and sexism, not the damage it does to real people in their real lives, but instead the problem is the mere MENTION of racism and sexism, then we cannot possibly get back to fighting these bigotries when the primary is over. and a Democratic party that doesn't fight racism and sexism is DOOMED.

So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, if you disagree with Clinton, don't couch those disagreements as a dismissal of the impact of sexism. and if you disagree with Obama, don't couch that disagreement as a dismissal of the pain & suffering caused by racism. if we CONTINUE to do that - because that's damn sure what WAY too many of us are doing - we will lose the votes of women and others concerned with sexism, and we will lose the votes of African Americans and others concerned with racism. and we will DESERVE to lose them.

I know web sites don't define the race or the party, but the sexism that has poured forth and/or been dismissed as an important issue my far too many at DailyKos is BAD for our party & our country. likewise, the embrace of racist themes and the dismissal of racism as an important issue by far too many at MyDD is BAD for our party & our country.
You know if you've done this. but there's a couple of easy tests for those in denial: if you frequent Kos, and claim you haven't seen sexism embraced or excused there, or frequent MyDD and claim you haven't seen racism embraced or excused there, you are in denial, open your eyes and admit the truth! likewise, if you have ever written publicly "i'm sick of people turning everything into race/gender" YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. fucking stop it now! before you KILL OUR PARTY.

A Democratic party led by people who dismiss sexism is not worth supporting. A Democratic party led by those who dismiss racism is not worth supporting. But if you are that kind of Obama supporter that continues to rail against sexism, thank you & KEEP IT UP! or if you are a Clinton supporter who continue to speak up against racism, thank you & KEEP IT UP!

But now it's time for ALL OF US to start supporting those who've supported this party, the women battling against sexism and African Americans fighting racism. One clear way to do this is for us to call out supporters of OUR candidate for these -isms, not just the other candidates supporters. Make this a party we can be proud of again, as opposed to the shame so many of us have felt seeing these bigotries spewn from the mouths of Democrats.

KEEP HOPE ALIVE! Put racism and sexism back on the retreat!

crossposted at DailyKos

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