Friday, July 07, 2006

Token Up

This post by TRex at firedoglake a couple of nights ago, and the angry comments about stereotyping that it inspired, reminded me of something I have long suspected but have only blogged about briefly (I think).

TRex and the commenters circled around this, but I don't think anyone said it directly: It is not a coincidence that the women and minorities who are prominent conservatives are unusually vile and unqualified - it is by design.

I believe that the conservatives actively seek out, recruit, and cultivate these people, not just to apply a thin layer of I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Diversity on top of their Wonderbread movement, but to provide endless opportunities to accuse their opposition of the very hatefulness that is their stock in trade.


Some examples:

Democrats opposing Clarence Thomas for being a sleazy sexual harasser? A lynch mob.

Liberals/Democrats pointing out, repeatedly, that Condi Rice is criminally incompetent? Racist, sexist, and possibly homophobic.

Liberals jumping all over Michelle Maglalang (or something) for her hypocrisy about Teresa Heinz Kerry's "professional name" when she uses one herself? Racist and sexist.

Liberal outrage at Ann Coulter over... jeez, who can keep track? Yeah, definitely sexist, yeah.

Liberals making a fuss about a gay prostitute in the White House press corps (possibly sleeping over as well)? Homophobic.

Liberals bashing Israel's increasingly sadistic Palestinian policy, neocons, or Joe Lieberman (and don't try to tell me he hasn't been cultivated by the Republicans)? Anti-semitic (I'm Jewish, by the way - but perhaps I'm self-hating).

Even the failed nomination of the laughably unqualified Harriet Miers to the SCOTUS (that really happened - I didn't just dream it, right?) was used as an example of liberal sexism, even though it was Republicans who ultimately shot her down.

To some extent, we play into the Republicans' hands every time we so much as mention their race, sex, or orientation while attacking them (although it's kinda the whole point in Gannon's case). However, the sad fact is that even if we scrupulously referred to, say, Ramesh Ponnuru or John Yoo as snivelling, sadistic little cockroaches without ever once mentioning their race, we would still be accused of racism, even if that is precisely what we are attacking them for. Such is the opportunistic illogic of the Republicans and their captive media.

Believe me, I am no civility advocate, even if I don't swear much on this blog (what can I say, my Dad reads it). If you want to curse these fuckers out, feel free. But just remember that they are trying to bait you. They want to collect and display as many samples of liberal "intolerance" as they can, the higher-profile the better. Don't make it easy for them. Besides, it's not like there isn't a wealth of material to work with - why waste time on cheap shots that are beside the point, which is not that Coulter and Malkin are women, but that they are evil.

One additional recommendation: Keep a bunch of minority, women's, and gay rights issues in your back pocket to wave at the conservative flying monkeys whenever they start insincerely protesting their compassion for the oppressed. Surely they should be willing to go on record with their support of gay marriage to prove that they're the tolerant ones, right? Or at least to condemn the Right's shabby treatment of women like Cindy Sheehan and Valerie Plame. Or ask them how the glorious liberation of the women of Afghanistan and Iraq is coming along.

5 comments:

djhlights said...

It is not a coincidence that the women and minorities who are prominent conservatives are unusually vile and unqualified - it is by design.

It is also easier to toss them to the wolves when the going gets rough or they get caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Whether their race in this regard is used to placate stereotypes or distrust towards them, it makes it easier for the ideologues to let them loose from the teat. Just ask Armstrong Williams or Jeff Gannon.

That being said the problem that I feel many on the left tend to forget is that neither side holds the trump card towards civility towards all. For goodness sake, we are human. I can name more than I would like from the left that IMHO are racist pricks. The right has their fair share as well, but I think that ultimately both sides have issues regarding race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, disabilities, and let’s not forget economic or social class.

Still your general point regarding the usage of their race, gender and other backgrounds by the right as some sort of counterbalance to the left’s argument regarding their views and opinions is exactly why they are chosen to be the torchbearers in the media regarding these issues. If you go after these people, the right will label you whichever epithet you like.

It is a shame because in some sense they are being used unknowingly or the money and fame are worth selling out who you are.

It is the right’s version of Ann Coulter’s claim that the left pulls out victims and they feel that they can’t attack their arguments without being labeled with epithets and looking unsympathetic.

The difference is that Ms. Coulter regularly and to a smaller extent Trex’s post cross that line because they ultimately decide to ignore the issues and ideas and go after the person in order to try and prove some sort of point.

Eli said...

I can name more than I would like from the left that IMHO are racist pricks. The right has their fair share as well, but I think that ultimately both sides have issues regarding race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, disabilities, and let’s not forget economic or social class.

While it is true that people on both sides are guilty of racism, sexism, homophobia, and (downward) classism, these things are not exactly core Democratic values. They are, however, arguably core Republican values, at least among the current crop of Republicans and conservatives, and they are far more likely to institutionalize them than Democrats are.


It is a shame because in some sense they are being used unknowingly or the money and fame are worth selling out who you are.

My money's on B. "You want me to use me as a tool to betray my own race/gender/orientation? I'll be rich and famous, you say? Where do I sign up?"


The difference is that Ms. Coulter regularly and to a smaller extent Trex’s post cross that line because they ultimately decide to ignore the issues and ideas and go after the person in order to try and prove some sort of point.

Coulter *has* to, because she's got nothin'. Your analogy is well-taken in terms of "immunization", but 9/11 and "Gold Star" widows and mothers are a much more selective club, with a deep shared pain and loss that membership in a particular race/gender/orientation does not automatically bestow (although it is far more common than it should be).

Also, there aren't as many of them to cultivate, and Cindy Sheehan is the only one who has even *approached* the prominence of the right-wing's creatures. I just don't see the hand of a Democratic sugardaddy helping them along.

karmic said...

liked your post.. too tired to comment in depth.. sigh must get sleep.

Aloysius said...

why waste time on cheap shots that are beside the point, which is not that Coulter and Malkin are women, but that they are evil.

If I can, for the moment, ignore the rest of the brilliance in that post and just say: Thank you. I get so incredibly weary of wading through that crap.

Eli said...

Thanks, Sill. No-one listens to me, though...