Just received this from Myrna Melgar who was actually at the Obama Fundraiser:

As someone who was at that now famous fundraiser where Barack spoke about the bitterness folks in rural America feel, I have grown increasingly bewildered at the Clinton campaign's distortion of his words.  The paragraph that has so spun out of control in the mainstream media was not a part of the speech itself, but rather a response to a question from someone in the audience (one of us!) who was planning on traveling to PA as a volunteer and was asking about what to expect.  I listened to Barack's response and was stuck by his emotional intelligence, deep empathy and understanding of our fellow Americans.  It was in no way condescending or demeaning.    So that you don't think I am one of these so called elitist San Francisco rich who are out of touch with everyone else outside our bubble:  I am a Latina, single mom, who immigrated to the Mission during the civil war in El Salvador.  America has given me great opportunity, but I know struggle and discrimination.  I have spent most of my career as a community and union organizer engaged in conflict with the "haves" and building leadership in poor communities of all colors to speak truth to power.  Barack's message of hope and inclusion of us all speaks to me and mine:  White, black, immigrant, Latino, Asian, male, female, gay, straight.  Of course people are bitter and angry!   One of the foundational principles of community organizing in America has been to tap into the discontent of people who are oppressed and turn it towards positive change, so that the emotinal energy that fuels the anger will instead be used to motivate people to action for positive progress and change.  It is a radically different message that the Obama philosophy espouses:  we can change the world ourselves - we need to work hard and turn our bitterness and anger towards the actual work of holding government accountable.  It applies to  poorpeople in rural appalachia as much as it applies to poor people in the inner city public housing projects in Chicago.    I am writing to remind us to stay on message and stay focused.  For the past four days, the media has been going nuts over that comment, including folks in the Democratic party who should know better but whose self interests is perhaps to protect the paradigm of division that has kept them at the top of the fragile balance between Republicans and centrist Democrats over the past 20 years.  This moment in American history is about  WE the people, and millions of us have elected Barack to speak for us now, because he speaks the truth.    Enough is enough.  Let's stay on message, and I have no doubt we're going to win this one. Here is an excellent piece by someone who lives in Western Pennsylvannia about this brouhaha:   http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/12/184747/973/89/485030   Peace to all.

First Columbia now this. How many more surprises does Clinton, Inc. have in store?

Bill Clinton, China linked via his foundation   

(Los Angeles Times) A firm that has donated to the president's charity is accused of collaborating with the government in its crackdown on Tibetan activists. Hillary Clinton has spoken out against China's actions.

He’s absolutely crazed, and not just because he feels that he never got the sort of incandescent press coverage that Obama gets — except maybe when he and Al Gore were on that bus, hailed as “Heartthrobs of the Heartland.” Bill is also crazed about the ineluctable fact that he isn’t Obama.

“He can’t compute that he’s not the new kid on the block,” said a former Clinton adviser. “It’s about his mortality — and immortality. He needs her to win because if she doesn’t become president, he goes down as a minor president. If she wins, it’s the Adamses and the Roosevelts and the Clintons.”

But he knows it’s going down the drain, and that Obama is the hot new thing and they’re the establishment retreads.

MoDo: Standing By His Woman