Criticizing the Bush administration in a black church on Martin Luther King Day is an easy way to get applause. The crowd is in the palm of the speaker's hand, eager to be inspired and filled with righteous indignation. New York's junior Senator, Hillary Rodham Clinton, found herself in just such a situation. She had an audience full of ardent supporters who feel a genuine affection for her and for her husband.

At Canaan Baptist Church in Harlem she described Republican one party rule as being akin to a plantation. Of course the right wing went into outrage overdrive. If they could just get over their Hillary hatred she would have little appeal, if any. When Trent Lott mused that she might be struck by lightning, Hillary's stock soared so much that she must have thanked God for Trent when she said her prayers at night.

Of course she is right about the Republicans. They love being the masters of this country and, they hope, of the entire world. For decades they have nursed fantasies of reconquest, waiting for the day when they could bring the nation back to the good old days when everyone knew their place.

Democrats behave the way oppressed people usually do. They cow and begin believing that their masters are not only powerful but deserving of the position they hold. Too few dream of waging war against the plantation system. Most just want a seat at the table in the big house and are satisfied when the master doesn't beat them too badly. If a few crumbs are thrown their way they are in seventh heaven.

Hillary's speech was not very impressive and neither is she, right wing blood lust not withstanding. She is just Mrs. Slick Willie. When she supports legislation to ban flag burning, legislation that she knows is unconstitutional, she insults the people who always rush to her defense. She and her husband play a tiresome game with Democrats. The right wing hate them so they get credit they don't deserve. They have concluded that they can get away with just about anything.

In the days after hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans, Bill Clinton sucked up to the Bush family and declared that we shouldn't be too critical of them. Hillary now criticizes her yes vote on the war, sort of. Now she says she “takes responsibility" for her vote and complains that troops who are in Iraq because of her support don't have enough armor.

It is important to keep the triangulating, back pedaling and pandering in mind when tempted to be impressed by Hillary's King Day speechifying.

The week before King Day, Hillary showed her true colors. She and Harry Belafonte were both guests at a Children's Defense Fund luncheon. It is a gross understatement to say that she avoided Belafonte. If he were infected with leprosy and the first case of contagious avian flu she could not have stayed further away from him.

Belafonte had committed the unpardonable sin of speaking ill of the white and powerful when he quite correctly referred to Bush as a tyrant and a terrorist. The Senator went nowhere near his table, stayed at the event for only fifteen minutes and refused to comment on his presence or her failure to acknowledge it.  She saw nothing wrong with the plantation system on that occasion.

Bill and Hillary are the masters of their own plantation. It is called the Democratic Leadership Council. The DLC exists to make sure that anyone who dares to break free realizes their error and runs back to Tara before sundown.

The DLC has already turned the bright, charismatic Barack Obama into an apologist for the Bush administration:

Yes, that is what life on the plantation will do to an otherwise intelligent mind. DLC talking points may make Obama sound like an idiot, but he isn't one. He knows the rules. Stick with the DLC, spew their bizarre mumbo jumbo, or give up any hope of political aspirations.

The DLC plantation has already chosen the Democratic presidential nominee for 2008 and it is none other than Hillary Clinton. The plantation system is so secure that it isn't risky to make a prediction two years ahead of time.

Just a few short weeks after hurricane Katrina destroyed the Gulf Coast, Harry Belafonte had this to say at the Congressional Black Caucus annual conference. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were present:

Thanks to the DLC and Bill and Hillary Clinton, Belafonte's worst fears have been realized. The Democrats have their own plantation and it may not be worth saving.

Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BC. Ms. Kimberley is a freelance writer living in New York City. She can be reached via e-Mail at [email protected]. You can read more of Ms. Kimberley's writings at freedomrider.blogspot.com.