I’m not even going to bother picking apart this NYT column by Frank Rich. He basically argues that Republicans are racists who are afraid of the growing heterogeneity of the American population… which is why they have decided to oppose Obama and his health reform bill. He finds a way to put everything in terms of the disenfranchisement of minorities, gays, and women:
If Obama’s first legislative priority had been immigration or financial reform or climate change, we would have seen the same trajectory. The conjunction of a black president and a female speaker of the House — topped off by a wise Latina on the Supreme Court and a powerful gay Congressional committee chairman — would sow fears of disenfranchisement among a dwindling and threatened minority in the country no matter what policies were in play. It’s not happenstance that Frank, Lewis and Cleaver — none of them major Democratic players in the health care push — received a major share of last weekend’s abuse. When you hear demonstrators chant the slogan “Take our country back!,” these are the people they want to take the country back from.
I guess his argument leads us to conclude that if Obama were white, Pelosi were male, and Frank were straight, then the Republicans would be embracing all this new legislation with arms wide open. This should be obvious, since the Republican party is clearly more concerned about preserving the “whiteness” of the electorate than supporting policies as stated in its platform.
Sorry, Frank. Your argument is patently absurd, although I’m sure you’ll find a large choir to preach to given the recent reception of Congressional legislation.
Dallas Morning News silences Frank Rich: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/03/31/the_racism_smear_104995.html
Frank Rich always alludes to race in his articles to get everyone howling. Writing incredibly polarizing articles is a strategy shared by others like Paul Krugman and sometimes even George Will.