PrintJanuary 13, 2007
Democrats and disdain
The defendant is a snob
Chorus: And a great snob, too.
- Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury
First it was John Kerry calling American troops child killers and rapists, as in the days of "Jenjis Khan." Then there was his wife Teresa saying that Mrs. Laura Bush staying at home raising two daughters "didn't have a real job." Then both John Edwards and John Kerry went on to publicly gay bait Vice President Cheney about his lesbian daughter. This was followed a few years later by Kerry saying that people who joined the US military were stupid and society's losers.
Now we have Barbara Boxer, Senator from Disneyland on The Bay, implying that a very accomplished, distinguished African American woman, Dr. Condoleeza Rice, isn't fit for her office because she hasn't given birth to children, a condemnation she wouldn't dare raise about the white Gloria Steinem, Donnna Shalala or Janet Reno. Dr. Rice had previously also been Provost of Stanford University in Sen. Boxer's home state.
This whole pattern reminds me an Edgar Allen Poe story I had to read in 8th grade, "The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Feather." In this story, a visitor to an insane asylum finds the "staff" acting more and more bizarre, until he realizes that they are, in fact, the inmates who have tricked the real staff into being incarcerated in the real inmate's place. As my memory recalls the story, there was one woman, who describes the antics of an inmate as making sounds like a chicken or rooster - and then illustrates the behavior by climbing on a table and repeating it.
That is exactly how Sen. Boxer appeared as a few days ago, the "feminist champion" doing her best imitation of Archie Bunker's Evil Twin, ostensibly to denounce her Bush Administration target, but in the process revealing much more of Boxer's own mindset - and shortcomings - than anyone in the room would have imagined.
I am reminded of the old 60s phrase, "come the Revolution, we won't need job or careers or money," that it will be a Utopia with total freedom. Well, Barbara Boxer showed us what someone who just won a large Senate election acts like when they believe that "the Revolution's" Utopia is at hand. And it looks very ugly, from where I view it.
Rush Limbaugh has stated that Boxer's remarks were a sign of the Democratic Party imploding when faced with the adult job of actually governing in Congress. I pray that he is right. I don't see how anyone in the mainstream of American political thought or daily behavior would want people like Barbara Boxer to continue to be the leadership and role models for the rest of us.
The Democrats won their victories in 2006 based largely on Pres. Bush's politically correct warfare not producing a dramatic, clear victory. In short, they won on the cumulative effect of what happened (or didn't happen) in the two years preceding Election Day 2006. If what we have seen, starting with John Kerry's calling military recruits stupid through Barbara Boxer denouncing Sec. of State Rice as "childless," is any indication of the "accomplishments" the Democrats will achieve in the next two years, then they may be in for some big disappointments in 2008. Yes, I know they are clever, but as someone once said, you can't fool all the people all the time. Especially when you insult most of the people all the time.
Now we have Barbara Boxer, Senator from Disneyland on The Bay, implying that a very accomplished, distinguished African American woman, Dr. Condoleeza Rice, isn't fit for her office because she hasn't given birth to children, a condemnation she wouldn't dare raise about the white Gloria Steinem, Donnna Shalala or Janet Reno. Dr. Rice had previously also been Provost of Stanford University in Sen. Boxer's home state.
This whole pattern reminds me an Edgar Allen Poe story I had to read in 8th grade, "The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Feather." In this story, a visitor to an insane asylum finds the "staff" acting more and more bizarre, until he realizes that they are, in fact, the inmates who have tricked the real staff into being incarcerated in the real inmate's place. As my memory recalls the story, there was one woman, who describes the antics of an inmate as making sounds like a chicken or rooster - and then illustrates the behavior by climbing on a table and repeating it.
That is exactly how Sen. Boxer appeared as a few days ago, the "feminist champion" doing her best imitation of Archie Bunker's Evil Twin, ostensibly to denounce her Bush Administration target, but in the process revealing much more of Boxer's own mindset - and shortcomings - than anyone in the room would have imagined.
I am reminded of the old 60s phrase, "come the Revolution, we won't need job or careers or money," that it will be a Utopia with total freedom. Well, Barbara Boxer showed us what someone who just won a large Senate election acts like when they believe that "the Revolution's" Utopia is at hand. And it looks very ugly, from where I view it.
Rush Limbaugh has stated that Boxer's remarks were a sign of the Democratic Party imploding when faced with the adult job of actually governing in Congress. I pray that he is right. I don't see how anyone in the mainstream of American political thought or daily behavior would want people like Barbara Boxer to continue to be the leadership and role models for the rest of us.
The Democrats won their victories in 2006 based largely on Pres. Bush's politically correct warfare not producing a dramatic, clear victory. In short, they won on the cumulative effect of what happened (or didn't happen) in the two years preceding Election Day 2006. If what we have seen, starting with John Kerry's calling military recruits stupid through Barbara Boxer denouncing Sec. of State Rice as "childless," is any indication of the "accomplishments" the Democrats will achieve in the next two years, then they may be in for some big disappointments in 2008. Yes, I know they are clever, but as someone once said, you can't fool all the people all the time. Especially when you insult most of the people all the time.
[Jack Kemp is not the former politician of the same name.]
