Frank Rich in the New York Times:
On the morning after a black man won the White House, America’s tears of catharsis gave way to unadulterated joy.
Our nation was still in the same ditch it had been the day before, but the atmosphere was giddy. We felt good not only because we had breached a racial barrier as old as the Republic. Dawn also brought the realization that we were at last emerging from an abusive relationship with our country’s 21st-century leaders. The festive scenes of liberation that Dick Cheney had once imagined for Iraq were finally taking place — in cities all over America.
....
But Palin’s appeal wasn’t overestimated only because of her kitschy “American Idol” star quality. Her fierce embrace of the old Karl Rove wedge politics, the divisive pitting of the “real America” against the secular “other” America, was also regarded as a sure-fire winner. The second most persistent assumption by both pundits and the McCain campaign this year — after the likely triumph of racism — was that the culture war battlegrounds from 2000 and 2004 would remain intact
This is true in exactly one instance: gay civil rights. Though Rove’s promised “permanent Republican majority” lies in humiliating ruins, his and Bush’s one secure legacy will be their demagogic exploitation of homophobia. The success of the four state initiatives banning either same-sex marriage or same-sex adoptions was the sole retro trend on Tuesday. And Obama, who largely soft-pedaled the issue this year, was little help. In California, where other races split more or less evenly on a same-sex marriage ban, some 70 percent of black voters contributed to its narrow victory.
And to my shame:
The only states where the G.O.P. increased its percentage of the presidential vote relative to the Democrats were West Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana and Arkansas.
No wonder we're last in almost everything.
Read the entire column. Rich is nearly always good.
H/T to PJ Hussein.
I dunno, Mimi - 4 out of 10 of you Louisianians (is that the right word) voted for Obama. That's only slightly less than the number the voted for the winning party in our last federal election here in Canada!
ReplyDeleteI think you can hold your heads up high, personally.
Personally, I tried. Toward the end, no one would talk to me about the election. The conversation was over, once I said whom I was supporting. Grandpère heard much more of the racist stuff, even after he said that he supported Obama. I think folks knew better than to say that sort of thing to me. I have something of a reputation in these parts.
ReplyDeleteFor writing like this, I have given you an award. Come by my place to pick it up.
ReplyDeleteDiva, thank you from the bottom of my heart, but I never do passing on for awards, tags, or memes. Please pick someone who will pass it on. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteI thought of you the other day because I read that Bobby Jindal (sp?) is being considered as a possibility for a 2012 run at the presidency. If that does happen, I know you'll have a few choice things to say about that.
ReplyDeleteRuth, I'd say he'd be more likely to make a run in 2016. If Obama has a fairly successful presidency, Jindal may not want to run against a sitting president. He's very careful about his career, but I believe he has presidential ambitions. Folks have mentioned a Palin-Jindal ticket in 2012, but he will not do that.
ReplyDelete"The only states where the G.O.P. increased its percentage of the presidential vote relative to the Democrats were West Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana and Arkansas."
ReplyDeleteSo it's true - Cajuns ARE just aquatic hillbillies?
Tangential bit of trivia that I realized tonight.
ReplyDeleteTwo states were admitted the year I was born. For the first time, both states could claim one of the candidates on the national ballot.
Gov. Palin, although born in Idaho, is obviously an Alaskan.
President elect Obama, although a resident of Illinois for most of his adult life, was born and raised in Hawaii.
It's not just the "lower 48" and the "continental United States".
Now we just need Puerto Rico to become fully integrated into the system of states.
Lapin, now that you know, I'll let you in on a little secret. Climbing them thar hills underwater ain't easy.
ReplyDeleteKishnevi, I don't think Puerto Rico wants to be a state.
ReplyDeleteTo be serious, to what extent is the Louisiana statistic a consequence of post-Katrina ethnic cleansing?
ReplyDeleteLapin, I'd say to a pretty large extent. The poor were disproportionately black, and many have not returned, because they can't afford to. The cost of rental property is quite high.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the violent criminals made their way back quickly.