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March 29, 2008
The Wages Of Identity Politics
Victor Davis Hanson offers a devastating analysis of the cumulative effects of the long-term practice of identity politics by liberals, effects which have been catalyzed by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright's recent remarks. (I guess I should amend that to the recent exposure of his remarks: Wright has been dealing his well-developed "theories" for years now.)
Watching the parade of apologists for Rev. Wright’s hatred—“garlic noses”; “KKK of A;” “God Damn America;” “Condamnesia;” the U.S. deserved 9/11; America is no different from al-Qaeda; we caused the AIDs virus; Israel is a “dirty word” and sought an Arab and black ethnic bomb, etc—is, well, depressing. [...][T]he net message from the African-American liberal establishment, at least I fear, seems to be something like the following: ‘Wright is not going to offer an apology and we aren’t embarrassed about his ranting, which is not ranting at all, but rather historical and biblical exegesis which we endorse. And the problem is yours, not ours, since we expect exemption—given the history of race in this country—from your so-called norms of public discourse.’ [...]
I think VDH is quite correct in noting the reaction of the black churches; and as I have pointed out, there's also a not insignificant portion of the left that agrees with Wright's politics. After all, a group who is long-accustomed to making excuses for ideologies like Marxism will have no trouble with rationalizing Wright. But VDH believes there is a historical precedent that predicts how the voters will react to Obama's inability to put Americans' minds at ease over Wright's hate speech. He concludes by saying:
Barack Obama is on his way to a McGovern candidacy.
It is widely observed that Obama's voting record in the Senate makes him the most left-leaning presidential candidate since George McGovern. And of course, McGovern also ran against a centrist, even liberal, Republican who wasn't warmly endorsed by conservatives.
Will history repeat?
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Comments
“Will history repeat?”
We can only hope.
Posted by: TheBad at April 3, 2008 04:29 PM
