Politics of offense forms Dems circular firing squad

Rich Lowry:

WHEN an unimpeachably liberal former Democratic vice-presidential candidate is likened to David Duke by a liberal media hero, the political apocalypse - or at least a grievance-politics cataclysm - is upon us.

In one of his sputtering-mad "special comments" usually devoted to damning President Bush to hell, Keith Olbermann of MSNBC accused Geraldine Ferraro of employing the "vocabulary of David Duke," and of "insidious racism that is at least two decades old."

Back in the glory days of liberaldom, this would have been like Edward R. Murrow calling Eleanor Roosevelt a fascist - in other words, utter madness.

Democrats are famous for forming circular firing squads. But apparently the real gunplay doesn't begin until every member of the firing squad thinks he or she has been the victim of racism or sexism. Then, the smell of gun smoke is mingled with self-pitying and overwrought accusations of race or gender bias.

Ferraro had to quit her role on the finance committee in the Clinton campaign for stating the obvious, that Barack Obama wouldn't be in a leading position in the race if he "were a white man." Clearly, his campaign is "making history" because he's an African-American. White senators have run for, and even won, the presidency before. Indeed, a bevy of them briefly challenged Obama in this campaign.

The unhinged trajectory of the Democratic race became clear when Bill Clinton got himself accused of racism well before he did any verifiable race-baiting. In New Hampshire, he called the notion that Obama had consistently opposed the Iraq War "a fairy tale," a race-neutral charge that black Democrats nonetheless declared offensive.

...

When Ferraro noted in the midst of her imbroglio, "Every time somebody says something about the [Obama] campaign, you're accused of being racist," she sounded surprised. As if she's unaware that her ideological compatriots have long played the race card against conservatives at the slightest instigation.

...

Race has become an excuse for many of the problems that afflict many black Americans. It becomes a crutch to avoid self examination and taking responsibility for ones words and circumstances. If someone is critical of conduct, it is easier for some to argue that the criticism is because they are black than because they may be wrong. This is a self defeating approach to life's problems whether it be on the campaign trail or at work or for not having work.

If a black candidates wants to transcend race, he should have his surrogates transcend to self defeating attitude about criticism. If Obama wants to prove that he is not where he is because he is black, he needs to ignore comments like Ferraro's rather than proving them by attacking her for saying it.