Goreing Democrats

Another op-ed, another hit piece. This one is against Barack Obama. Richard Cohen points out that no one can find the copy of Life Magazine Obama said awakened his racial consciousness as a child. In addition, Obama's schoolmates and friends over the years don't remember him being obsessed with his identity. Therefore, argues Cohen, Obama is a narcissistic exaggerator who made the story up to make himself look better, and is using the whole racial identity question to cloak his ambition.

That's a mighty big claim based on very little evidence. After all, is it so hard to imagine that a 10 year old might mis-remember the magazine a bit? Cohen admits a similar error himself, but quickly asserts that in Obama it is suspicious. And as for no one in the Obama's past remembering his obsession with racial identity, I must question whether Cohen has been relying on the Cliff Notes version of Obama's book, because in it Obama says that he never talked about it with others. My God man, he said he never talked about it in the book!!! The climax is focused on the importance of not keeping such things a secret, as Barack had been doing! What, do you think a teenager who wonders whether he's black enough or white enough is going to run around talking about it?

I suppose all this is to be expected. For years the media has practiced a double standard to the advantage of Republicans. Hillary's problem is that she's shrill and calculating, but McCain's is that he's a moderate. Edwards is that he's a pretty boy wealthy hypocrite who doesn't care that his wife has cancer, while Giuliani's is that he's a moderate. Obama's problem is that he's vacuous, crooked, and a liar, while Romney's is that he's, you guessed it, a moderate. Rampant corruption in the Bush Administration is "boring" and "partisan," but calling Democrats traitors is just "tough politics."

I've thought for some time that Democrats might (for the first time) have to run a really brutal negative campaign against the Republicans this time, whether they like it not. The Republicans are in so much trouble they are going to force things to get nasty. Now I'm beginning to wonder whether we're going to have to run a similar campaign against the press itself.