Combatting Neo-Apartheid

I totally agree with Melissa Harris-Lacewell in this clip from the Rachel Maddow show recommended to me by a friend on Facebook.

I didn’t understand the Sotomayor hearings as a pathetic last stand by the Gingrich Republicans (a la Frank Rich in the NYT and others across the internet), but rather as a failed yet still threatening use of the media and bureaucratic procedure to create the cultural conditions in which a white soon-to-be minority can maintain power in spite of demographic shifts and a popular will for social and economic change, i.e. the cultural building blocks of an American neo-apartheid. Like Lacewell, I have my eyes on the mid-term elections and think that while Obama does his best to reform Washington, we citizens need to redouble our efforts to strengthen Democratic/Independent/Green/Socialist/Communist control of the House and Senate in 2010. Pick your candidate and start working.

The Most Dangerous Woman in Amerika

I keep warning liberal friends to take Sarah Palin seriously, and Frank Rich’s NYT editorial today strengthens my resolve. Perhaps everybody knows this already, but unless the Left remains super-vigilant, I fear a shocking right-wing reaction against the Obama government that will crush all the good will he has inspired at home and abroad. It’s good to see the NYT jumping on board, but from what I can tell from talking to friends, liberals aren’t that worried about Palin yet. They think she’s a joke. To me, her continued media presence is a reminder that politics don’t end on election day. Where is the anti-fascist energy that got Obama elected? Where are the political volunteers out on the streets educating their parents and grandparents about what a disaster Palin is? Frightfully, I think that articles like this one actually fuel Palin’s fire. Any evidence of Palin’s incompetence is taken as a vicious attack, which creates a vicious circle of resentment and reaction. The only way to stem this tide is to focus on the good things happening in this country, if they ever start happening.