they're surrounded

I wonder, is it a common phenomenon for an embattled minority to start seeing everyone else as part of one monolithic enemy?

I'm increasingly seeing Clinton supporters blaming "Obama" for every bad thing that happens to Hillary or her campaign. Take this dKos diary, for instance. Among the things for which "obama and the democratic party" are to blame are:

being called a blitch

being bullied

having her own party refuse to acknowledge her votes and strong following

having her followers called racists on SNL

having her party's superdelegates do everything in their power to dissway [!] her voters and demand for her to step down even when she is leading in the popular and electoral vote [!]

blaming her for her husband's policies which brought more prosperity and peace to America [translation: Bill's policies were great, and how dare you blame Hillary for them!]

having her legs, hips, and cleavage ridiculed on the polulation's tvs

Apparently, "obama and the democratic party" can now include among their agents and proxies John McCain supporters, Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live, Washington Post fashion writer Robin Givhan, and Rush Limbaugh.

"a large share"

So I'm reading the New York Times and I come across this article on workplace bullies. Sounds interesting, as I've never really experienced that but it sounds just awful, and then I come to a graph to which the editor should have paid a little more attention:

A large share of the problem involves women victimizing women. The Zogby survey showed that 40 percent of workplace bullies are women.

According to About.com, women constitute 48% of the working population. If we're talking proportions, then, isn't it men who constitute "a large share of the problem," seeing as they comprise 52% of the overall population but 60% of the bullies?

"no other voting bloc"

Atrios:
I imagine if CNN's Randi Kaye thought a bit harder she could come up with at least one more.

Recent polls show black women are expected to make up more than a third of all Democratic voters in South Carolina's primary in five days.

For these women, a unique, and most unexpected dilemma, presents itself: Should they vote their race, or should they vote their gender?

No other voting bloc in the country faces this choice.

Heh, wow.

Don Imus: wankeroo

Gwen Ifill, of whom I'm occasionally critical, has put it best so far:

...Every time a young black girl shyly approaches me for an autograph or writes or calls or stops me on the street to ask how she can become a journalist, I feel an enormous responsibility. It’s more than simply being a role model. I know I have to be a voice for them as well.

So here’s what this voice has to say for people who cannot grasp the notion of picking on people their own size: This country will only flourish once we consistently learn to applaud and encourage the young people who have to work harder just to achieve balance on the unequal playing field.

And puhleaz, let's stop pretending like: a) this is the first, or second, or third time Imus and his producers have polluted the airwaves with this filth, or b) Imus' age or distance from the black community or off-the-cuff style assuages his remarks. In what setting or in what time was it ever okay to call a Cinderella-story collegiate women's basketball team a bunch of "nappy-haired hos"? Or to call the upper management of a major TV network a bunch of money-grubbing Jews?

So tell me again, please, on what basis should this bigot keep his job?

There's a lesson here about humor. Molly Ivins once said:

There are two kinds of humor. One kind that makes us chuckle about our foibles and our shared humanity -- like what Garrison Keillor does. The other kind holds people up to public contempt and ridicule -- that's what I do. Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful. I only aim at the powerful. When satire is aimed at the powerless, it is not only cruel -- it's vulgar.

Imus first gave a half-hearted defense that it was just an idiot comment meant to be amusing, and I suspect that was the most truthful reaction we ever got out of him. I've never listened to his show, but this type of humor is ubiquitous on talk radio so it doesn't exactly surprise me to hear that Imus has a penchant for verbally beating up on women and black people. I don't quite understand the humor defense, either, the "can't you take a joke?!" retort when you say something out of line. What does that mean, that you don't actually believe what you said (or, in this case, the premises and stereotypes behind it) is true? If not, then why would it be funny? "Nappy-haired hos" wouldn't be funny in reference to the Smith College class of '95, or the Chinese women's volleyball team, let alone the Edmonton Oilers.

But in its proper context, it's funny 'cuz black women live in the ghetto and have ugly hair and are loose and say funny-sounding words like "nappy" and "ho"!