The Great Identity Politics War is like the Mother of all Pile-ups; I just can't look away!
The latest salvo sees Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama cause New York's NOW chapter to flip out.
Women have just experienced the ultimate betrayal. Senator Kennedy’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton’s opponent in the Democratic presidential primary campaign has really hit women hard. Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him, hushed the fact that he was late in his support of Title IX, the ERA, the Family Leave and Medical Act to name a few. Women have buried their anger that his support for the compromises in No Child Left Behind and the Medicare bogus drug benefit brought us the passage of these flawed bills. We have thanked him for his ardent support of many civil rights bills, BUT women are always waiting in the wings.![]()
And now the greatest betrayal! We are repaid with his abandonment! He’s picked the new guy over us. [SNIP]
This latest move by Kennedy, is so telling about the status of and respect for women’s rights, women’s voices, women’s equality, women’s authority and our ability – indeed, our obligation - to promote and earn and deserve and elect, unabashedly, a President that is the first woman after centuries of men who “know what’s best for us.”I suppose that the 70+% of black women who voted for Obama in the South Carolina primary aren't really women. Or perhaps black women are too stupid to figure out that Hillary Clinton has their best interest at heart while Obama couldn't possibly have that, being a tripod and all. And see how these tripods stick together?
Somewhere, Mary Jo Kopechne (pictured) is laughing uncontrollably.
(Thanks to Hot Air)
It's worth keeping in mind that a lot of the indentity-politicking is coming from folks who aren't part of an official campaign, and therefore have motivations and concerns to which seeing a particular candidate nominated may be secondary.
CNN's "should black women vote race or gender" story came from neither campaign, but because CNN thought it a good way to get cheap ratings.
When Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. comments on the presidential campaign, chances are his own reelection campaign is his real concern, and the voters in his district the real target of his words.
And NYSNOW's primary concerns are most likely (1) an attempt to appear relevant and (2) an attempt to drum up donations.
IOW the primary practitioners of over-the-top race & gender baiting are the media and the media's whores.
Posted by: Ralph Phelan | January 28, 2008 at 02:46 PM