The Damage We Have Wrought
~Snooper~
Identity Politics. We hear quite a bit about this but what exactly is Identity Politics? The all-knowing answer to that question is elusive even though the term has been used since the early 1970s.
According to some, identity politics is when an individual votes for someone for the sole purpose to advance an agenda. The same can be said in reverse as when a politician targets a specific "identity". Classifying such action as demographics covers this up. No matter the paint used to cover up an ugly process, it is still identity politics.
According to many, identity politics is the process in which interests of special groups are advanced because they have been allegedly oppressed and deserve more attention than any other group. Such loathsome attitudes appeal to the emotion and not the intellect and we see identity politics at work each and every day in the areas of sexual orientation (fancy terminology to disguise confused men and women), religious tendencies, gender, race, ethnic background and other identity crisis prone agendas.
In this current election cycle in 2008, we have witnessed Identity Politics tear a political party nearly in half with no unity in sight for the foreseeable future. We have a black man fighting a white woman for their party's race to the White House and apparently the black man won that race. This made the women angry. Had it been reversed, it would have made the blacks angry. And, why is that? Perhaps it is due to each "section" within the DNC thinking that the blacks have been oppressed more than the women. Neither argument is true but they believe it just the same.
Seeing that the black guy chose an old white guy as a running mate, we now have young white and black women upset. I haven't heard the reports of all the other hyphenated Americans' take on any of this but if Identity Politics is what drives elections, why wasn't there an Asian-American placed on either position for the White House? I am indeed curious. For that matter, why wasn't there a homosexual or at least a same-sex team selected? Weren't their feelings injured as well? Could it be that the DNC utilizes Identity Politics as a ruse just to justify for their tactics of lies and deceit in order to win? Is winning an election all that matters?
Among the many truisms in the DNC race to occupation of the White House, a particular truth sticks out like a sore thumb. The black guy wasn't a black guy but chose that identity for the sympathy vote. Barack is neither black nor white. He is a mixed race, a hybrid. So, a hybrid was running against a white woman. If he ran as a hybrid, he would have surely lost. He won by lying. I suppose now the DNC will have to invent another category for Identity Politics for the census roles and that new category will need to be listed as HYBRID. This new category can be used for any combination of hyphenated Americans.
The GOP escapes not the Identity Politics quagmire. Not now. At first I was excited about the pick of Sarah Palin. Not now. The GOP has apparently felt the need to plunge into the cesspool of Identity Politics to a) rub the face of the DNC into the mud by picking a woman and b) picking a woman in order to win an election and c) panic-picking a woman. The whole thing pisses me off.
Is the GOP bowing to the pressures of Identity Politics? Is the GOP now the Hard-On Party? Did the GOP choose Sarah Palin just to say to Barack, "AHA! GOTCHA!"? Or, did they do it just to win and was it a panic-pick? And please don't insult my intelligence by speaking to me about the cowardly term "demographic" because I saw what that really is decades ago. If I have to explain it to you it is too late.
What has happened to America? When did winning an election become the preeminent thrust? Didn't it used to be that candidates offered up their platforms and let the people decide? When did winning an election for the sake of winning an election override the betterment of the nation that many others and I fought for, bled for and died for? Did we fight to fix the quagmire that the politicians got us into just so they could take the credit and win an election, consequences be damned?
Have we sunk to such a level that the blood of the fallen has no merit or worth? Did we fight, bleed and die so the politicians can play their silly games with our national treasures?
There are so many questions and so few answers, at least viable answers.
As we have witnessed Identity Politics tear the DNC asunder, we are now witnessing history in the making in several ways. We see the DNC torn apart and we are now seeing the GOP adopt the Identity Politics meme. This is truly a sad day for America.
Identity Politics. We hear quite a bit about this but what exactly is Identity Politics? The all-knowing answer to that question is elusive even though the term has been used since the early 1970s.
According to some, identity politics is when an individual votes for someone for the sole purpose to advance an agenda. The same can be said in reverse as when a politician targets a specific "identity". Classifying such action as demographics covers this up. No matter the paint used to cover up an ugly process, it is still identity politics.
According to many, identity politics is the process in which interests of special groups are advanced because they have been allegedly oppressed and deserve more attention than any other group. Such loathsome attitudes appeal to the emotion and not the intellect and we see identity politics at work each and every day in the areas of sexual orientation (fancy terminology to disguise confused men and women), religious tendencies, gender, race, ethnic background and other identity crisis prone agendas.
In this current election cycle in 2008, we have witnessed Identity Politics tear a political party nearly in half with no unity in sight for the foreseeable future. We have a black man fighting a white woman for their party's race to the White House and apparently the black man won that race. This made the women angry. Had it been reversed, it would have made the blacks angry. And, why is that? Perhaps it is due to each "section" within the DNC thinking that the blacks have been oppressed more than the women. Neither argument is true but they believe it just the same.
Seeing that the black guy chose an old white guy as a running mate, we now have young white and black women upset. I haven't heard the reports of all the other hyphenated Americans' take on any of this but if Identity Politics is what drives elections, why wasn't there an Asian-American placed on either position for the White House? I am indeed curious. For that matter, why wasn't there a homosexual or at least a same-sex team selected? Weren't their feelings injured as well? Could it be that the DNC utilizes Identity Politics as a ruse just to justify for their tactics of lies and deceit in order to win? Is winning an election all that matters?
Among the many truisms in the DNC race to occupation of the White House, a particular truth sticks out like a sore thumb. The black guy wasn't a black guy but chose that identity for the sympathy vote. Barack is neither black nor white. He is a mixed race, a hybrid. So, a hybrid was running against a white woman. If he ran as a hybrid, he would have surely lost. He won by lying. I suppose now the DNC will have to invent another category for Identity Politics for the census roles and that new category will need to be listed as HYBRID. This new category can be used for any combination of hyphenated Americans.
The GOP escapes not the Identity Politics quagmire. Not now. At first I was excited about the pick of Sarah Palin. Not now. The GOP has apparently felt the need to plunge into the cesspool of Identity Politics to a) rub the face of the DNC into the mud by picking a woman and b) picking a woman in order to win an election and c) panic-picking a woman. The whole thing pisses me off.
Is the GOP bowing to the pressures of Identity Politics? Is the GOP now the Hard-On Party? Did the GOP choose Sarah Palin just to say to Barack, "AHA! GOTCHA!"? Or, did they do it just to win and was it a panic-pick? And please don't insult my intelligence by speaking to me about the cowardly term "demographic" because I saw what that really is decades ago. If I have to explain it to you it is too late.
What has happened to America? When did winning an election become the preeminent thrust? Didn't it used to be that candidates offered up their platforms and let the people decide? When did winning an election for the sake of winning an election override the betterment of the nation that many others and I fought for, bled for and died for? Did we fight to fix the quagmire that the politicians got us into just so they could take the credit and win an election, consequences be damned?
Have we sunk to such a level that the blood of the fallen has no merit or worth? Did we fight, bleed and die so the politicians can play their silly games with our national treasures?
There are so many questions and so few answers, at least viable answers.
As we have witnessed Identity Politics tear the DNC asunder, we are now witnessing history in the making in several ways. We see the DNC torn apart and we are now seeing the GOP adopt the Identity Politics meme. This is truly a sad day for America.
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Having said all of the above and knowing what I have known of John McCain since his first appearance in DC, I do know that he would not stoop to the lowly levels of Identity Politics. I cannot say that for all other members of the GOP or the followers thereof.
Judging from the reactions of the socialists that are hoping to ride the coattails of The One to the White House, they see this GOP VP pick as an Identity Politics issue. Let them think it.
Let it also be known that I will be watching for the tell-tale signs of IP within the GOP/RNC RINO clique of the Judas Iscariot Crowd.
Judging from the reactions of the socialists that are hoping to ride the coattails of The One to the White House, they see this GOP VP pick as an Identity Politics issue. Let them think it.
Let it also be known that I will be watching for the tell-tale signs of IP within the GOP/RNC RINO clique of the Judas Iscariot Crowd.
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