SEXISM AND THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

An irony of all ironies.

If Condi Rice were on the Republican ticket, we could compare the level of respect accorded to her by Republicans with the now infamous Democratic pastime of denigrating, ridiculing and hating the only serious female presidential contender we've ever had. And why have we never had a serious female presidential contender? Oh yeah, because we live in a culture that has a long history of denigrating, ridiculing and hating women.

Republicans would never stand for the media to treat Rice or any other woman on the Republican ticket with the vile disrespect showered on Hillary Rodham Clinton. Democrats have benefited from and all but begged corporate media to insult Hillary, and thus all women, with daily barrels of misogyny. With Condi Rice on the ticket, I'm guessing sexism becomes a firing offense at MSNBC. And I'm guessing Rush Limbaugh begins to look like a sensitive and gracious gentleman next to sexist thug Bill Maher.

Why am I a Democrat? I forget.

Just saying ...

No, not "sexism," just IOKIYAR. It's okay to be black or female if you're a Republican, and while one mustn't note the number of blacks and women in the Democratic Party without conflating them to "identity politics," one's recognition of the number of blacks and females in the Bush administration is fair and balanced. It enables one to point out how noble are the Republicans to promote and advance the few minorities/women they appeal to, while Democrats are the inheritors of a legacy of pandering. That's the view of the right.

The view of the left seems to be, we honor our minorities but see no problem with belittling, demonizing and slandering our MAJORITY, which is FEMALE. Unless, of course, they belong to the Village standard for women-who-belittle-and-demonize-other-women in order to be admitted to the BoyZ Club, the fringe membership, that is, allotted to "women who know that their place is to (publicly at least) agree with and worship the Boyz."

Geez, is it really that obscure to the Democrats Who Matter, that women are increasingly angry about the wanton sexism and misogyny that have been revealed on the airwaves and in the campaigns this cycle? I mean, we've grown to expect this kind of thing from Republicans, but from the Democratic Party? It's become increasingly clear that the party of the little man really means it -- THE MAN, not the woman.

I'm getting so tired of this s**t that each day I pledge to myself that I'm going to take a break from it all, focus on family and work (which is overwhelming but satisfying) and get some little peace and sleep on a regular basis. And every day, something convinces me anew that this is a battle worth fighting, for our national security and standing in the world, and for our American culture and the well-being of our people.

Whatever the outcome, the issues of gender and race have finally risen to the level of a national conversation -- among voters, if not pundits. I'm finding it more possible than ever in my lifetime since the 70s, for mixed audiences to address race and gender in our talks without embarrassment. There's often passion, and some heat, but at least we're TALKING. That's a positive result from this presidential race that has nothing to do with the Republicans or John McCain. We're witnessing within our own party attitudes that we've covered up and denied for years, we're pointing them out to one another, and, I have to hope, that at some point we're going to deal with, and overcome them.

Otherwise, we'll just be the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.