Nothing she said seems obviously true, but nothing she said seems obviously false either.
I totally don't get the reaction. It was commonplace to say that Ronald Reagan wouldn't have succeeded in politics if he hadn't been an actor; it's commonplace to say that George Bush wouldn't have succeeded if his dad hadn't been President; it's commonplace to say that Hilary Clinton wouldn't have succeeded if she hadn't been First Lady. We have no way of knowing for sure whether any of those statements is true, but they're not generally considered outrageous.
It seems quite plausible that Obama's race has gained him more votes than it's lost him; it seems quite plausible that the opposite is true. Is Ferraro being criticized for saying something she can't prove? If so, 98% of political rhetoric, and 98% of everyday conversation, seems equally outrageous by the same standard.
Well, saying Obama only is where he is due to being black seems to be false, since Jessie Jackson never got where Obama is, and JJ is certainly black. Part of it that as a society we're trying to figure out what is a "fair" way to try to be rude to someone. You can say almost anything about a lawyer in this society. You can make fun of those with silver spoons in their mouth, or are too poor (how many trailer trash comments are made yearly?).
However, race is almost the third rail in politics. There are LOTS of highly educated blacks worked hard to get where they are today. They get very very very annoyed at being told repeatedly that they only got into Havard/Yale/Princeton/Whereever "because they are black". Clarance Thomas says snide comments like that are a reason to get rid of affirmative action. I disagree, but then I think that Thomas is an idiot. I don't think he's an idiot because he is black, but rather is an idiot who is black. I think it is fair to say that. If I ever said he was an idiot because he was black, I'd hope that anyone who heard me making a comment like that would rip me an new asshole.
And part of the kerfluffel with Ferraro's comments are is that it wasn't that long ago that some bombastic idiot (Chris Matthews I think?) said that Hilary only got elected cause Bill screwed around. Which isn't as bad of a comment imho as what Ferraro said, but he got roasted and had to apologize.
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no subject
Date: 2008-03-12 02:07 pm (UTC)obviously false either.
I totally don't get the reaction. It was commonplace to say that
Ronald Reagan wouldn't have succeeded in politics if he hadn't been
an actor; it's commonplace to say that George Bush wouldn't have
succeeded if his dad hadn't been President; it's commonplace to say
that Hilary Clinton wouldn't have succeeded if she hadn't been
First Lady. We have no way of knowing for sure whether any of those
statements is true, but they're not generally considered outrageous.
It seems quite plausible that Obama's race has gained him more votes
than it's lost him; it seems quite plausible that the opposite is true.
Is Ferraro being criticized for saying something she can't prove? If
so, 98% of political rhetoric, and 98% of everyday conversation, seems
equally outrageous by the same standard.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-12 02:23 pm (UTC)Part of it that as a society we're trying to figure out what is a "fair" way to try to be rude to someone. You can say almost anything about a lawyer in this society. You can make fun of those with silver spoons in their mouth, or are too poor (how many trailer trash comments are made yearly?).
However, race is almost the third rail in politics. There are LOTS of highly educated blacks worked hard to get where they are today. They get very very very annoyed at being told repeatedly that they only got into Havard/Yale/Princeton/Whereever "because they are black". Clarance Thomas
says snide comments like that are a reason to get rid of affirmative action. I disagree, but then I think that Thomas is an idiot. I don't think he's an idiot because he is black, but rather is an idiot who is black. I think it is fair to say that. If I ever said he was an idiot because he was black, I'd hope that anyone who heard me making a comment like that would rip me an new asshole.
And part of the kerfluffel with Ferraro's comments are is that it wasn't that long ago that some bombastic idiot (Chris Matthews I think?) said that Hilary only got elected cause Bill screwed around. Which isn't as bad of a comment imho as what Ferraro said, but he got roasted and had to apologize.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-12 03:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-12 04:25 pm (UTC)