Well, at least the matter of the Illinois Senate seat hasn’t gone racial, right? Pyaah — right. The classic Bobby Rush said, “Let me just remind you that there presently is no African American in the Senate.” Then he warned against hanging and lynching. (Really.) (Seriously.)
In his blog, David Frum quoted Michael Tomasky, who said, “It must be said that Rush made an entirely fair point. In 2004, when they elected Obama, the voters of Illinois chose an African American senator. And so, in determining who should fill out his term, it’s reasonable that race count as a factor.”
Are we all ready to concede this? Are we all ready to be (old) South Africa, or India? A black officeholder must be replaced by a black officeholder? A white one by a white one? A left-handed Hispanic lesbian by a . . .
The racialism of this country is maybe its creepiest, most lamentable element. I have addressed this issue a lot in this column — probably too much — but, you know: Repetition is the coin of the realm (or at least a major part of it).
You may wish to think of the Illinois business this way: In 2004, did the voters elect to the Senate an individual named Barack Obama? Or did they elect a skin color? Did New Yorkers, four years before that, and two years after that, elect an individual named Hillary Clinton? Or did they want a white woman?
And if they had wanted a white woman — why not Kate O’Beirne (who has the advantage of being a) a native New Yorker, b) correct on all the issues, and c) magnificent)?
Anyway, enough of this . . .
A wise Republican head said to me the other day, “I actually think Obama is going to have a hard time of it.” Here was his reasoning: “Two things Bush has done right are Iraq (after the surge) and preventing a second attack. Those are big achievements to live up to — especially if you don’t believe there is any connection between the president’s means and these ends.”
During the Cold War, we used to speak of anti-anti-Communists. These were people (on the left) who were not exactly pro-Communist. But they so hated the anti-Communists, they were . . . well, anti-anti-Communists — the best, the fairest name for them.
Today, there are anti-anti-Islamofascists. They are not on the Islamofascist side in the War on Terror. But they hate those who are fighting, or attempting to fight, the Islamofascists more than they could ever hate the Islamofascists. They are anti-anti-Islamofascists.
The similarities between yesterday’s anti-anti-Communists and today’s anti-anti-Islamofascists would make a very good essay — perhaps by David Pryce-Jones or Norman Podhoretz. Of course, many of today’s anti-anti-Islamofascists were yesterday’s anti-anti-Communists — I mean, the same people, in the flesh.
And it’s all embodied in a publication such as
The New York Review of Books.
People often ask me what to read — about Cuba, about Che Guevara (in particular), about Israel. Lately, several readers have said, “What should I read about Israel, to get the history right? People are always saying that a bunch of zealous Jews just showed up and, for no legitimate reason, kicked out a bunch of peaceable Arabs.”
Right. That’s what I was taught too. Anyway, I always say Joan Peters, Paul Johnson (in his
History of the Jews), Martin Gilbert, Conor Cruise O’Brien. But if anyone can do better — please let me know. What there may be a crying need for is a sound — ultra-sound! — modest-size one-volume history. Something you could take to the bank. A Bernard Lewis-style book. (He has not concentrated on Israel, but rather on the Arab states, Persia, and Turkey.) That would be a serious service.
So, I’ve been thinking a bit about this Kathy Griffin affair. She’s the comedienne (she would hate that word, I imagine) who caused a stir during CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage. I was on a television show with her once. Very funny and talented woman, to be sure.
Accepting her Emmy in 2007, she said, “A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. So, all I can say is, ‘Suck it, Jesus.’ This award is my god now.”
Okay. So when New Year’s Eve comes, CNN apparently says, “Whom should we get?” And their answer is — Kathy Griffin. Who goes on to be — Kathy Griffin. Glenn Beck is a “heroin-addicted Mormon,” “knock the d*** out of your mouth,” etc.
Remember when John Edwards, during the 2004 presidential campaign, talked about “two Americas”? To him, there were two Americas — he meant, economically: Dust Bowl stuff. That is nonsense, of course. But there may well be two Americas where culture is concerned — where a sense of decency is concerned. And these two “countries” have increasingly little to do with each other. And the CNN-type America has huge contempt for the other one (probably more than vice versa).
A lot of people write and tell me that they feel like aliens — with no amnesty in the offing! I think their feeling is understandable.
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