I was a little bummed this week at how quickly Obama folded to AIPAC. I imagine that a guy has to do what a guy has to do. But I felt better after laughing at it all with this clip from Jon Stewart!
And this one killed me as well! Both are worth a viewing!
Friday, June 06, 2008
These Killed Me
Posted by USWest at 12:31 PM
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I also loved this line from Colbert's opening:
Pat Buchanan has a new book. It will accidentally be purchased by thousands of elderly Florida Jews.
There was a ton of sexism in the media during the primary season--largely from pundits and commentators who often offered their observations thinly veiled with "humor." (That was not why Obama won, of course. I'm just saying the sexism was really obnoxious this year.) The worst part was, anyone who dared to point it out was labeled a whiner and accused of playing some kind of gender/victim card. I'm glad the Daily show was willing to point it out.
Yes, I noticed that most (but certainly not all) of the clips they showed were from Fox - no surprise there.
Thankfully, it doesn't appear to have worked. The exit polls I've seen show that among those that will admit to making gender a significant factor in their vote, Hillary won a fairly substantial majority. So by this admittedly flawed measure (based as it is on self reporting), Clinton won more votes than she lost among those who thought better or worse of her based on gender.
And it is good that the Obama campaign did not stoop to that low level themselves. There were no snide comments from the candidate about "breaking down in tears" or "nagging" etc. First, because it would have been bad for the country to have engaged in that kind of crap. Second, because it would have certainly backfired. Even without having participated in it, he's being blamed for it by significant portions of the Clinton constituency. Imagine the hatred that would be directed against him by people inclined to like Clinton had he made thinly veiled sexist comments or said for example that Hillary can't win male votes because she is a woman.
In contrast, among those who will admit to making race a significant part of their voting decision, Obama lost by a significant margin.
If nothing else, this suggests that racists are less embarassed about their bigotry than are sexists. But I suspect it also reflects the fact that in some areas (Appalachia for example) racism is still considered an acceptable part of life where as sexism is far less prevelent today than it once was.
I'd like to add this:
I also think that the exit polls suggest that identity politics works in a positive direction for a woman candidate because women make up half (more than half in Democratic primaries) of the voters. But for a member of a racial minority, making a big deal about identity politics is a losing proposition.
That could be why Obama's success relative to other black politicians may be attributed to his eschewing the traditional rhetoric of black identity politics.
One last thing. My favorite part in the first clip is when Stewarts points out the silliness of McCain bringing his own Jew to Irael.
My favorite parts of the second clip is the look on Kristen Schaal's face when Jon said, "We have a lot more clips." And when Kristen said, "Who was that guy?... I suppose those were just freedom drops."
Let me add that Obama never stooped to sexism on any level, not at all. In fact, he must have bent over backward to avoid it--because believe me, if there had been the slightest whiff of it, that would have been all over the news. Obama also spoke very graciously of Hillary and her campaign last night in Virginia. It did not even sound forced :-)
From the late great Molly Ivins:
"As they say around the Texas Legislature, if you can't drink their whiskey, screw their women, take their money, and vote against 'em anyway, you don't belong in office.
Molly Ivins."
Obama, clearly, can do that.
Of course, now he won't even take their money.
In response to the new party leader's orders, the DNC will no longer accept donations from lobyists or PACs. I intend to send them money online forthwith to prove their faith in us.
Even Howard Dean has now admitted that, throughout the campaign, news broadcasters acted like, "middle schoolers" regarding a major woman candidate. Of course, Dean waited until it was all over to say something. Typical.
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