The Slow Bomb

Once upon a time I heard a witness describe a particularly nasty accusation as a 'slow bomb'-the first thing it does is kills those nearest to it.

That's what the injection of intolerance adds to any political campaign, and it reinforces the good judgment of the electorate in that Geraldine Ferraro was never given a seat one heartbeat away from the presidency.

"B-b-but Sparky!" you say. "What ever are you ruminating about this morning?"

Two things, my little friend. The first is, of course, the odious nature of the remarks that Ferraro injected into the present political season, kinda like Doc Mengele injecting a particularly nasty bacillus into an unsuspecting arm.

The second and more sinister aspect of this is the tendency of the Clinton campaign to use people associated with it to make outrageous remarks in public that play on bigotry writ large, at the same time preserving the candidate's plausible deniability.

What did she say? Well, it's something she's said before, about other candidates.

According to Frank James of the Baltimore Sun she said back in 1988 the following, referring to then presidential candidate Jesse Jackson:

And former representative Geraldine A. Ferraro (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that because of his "radical" views, "if Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race."

So what's the connection with the present silly season? Well, she hasn't changed a whole lot.

Here's what was printed in the Daily Breeze, composed of equal parts of resentment, victimness, and a sense of being done in by the male power structure that typifies some aspects of the Clinton campaign. It's the persistent "the bastards did it to us again" feel of the thing that makes me gag.

I think what America feels about a woman becoming president takes a very secondary place to Obama's campaign - to a kind of campaign that it would be hard for anyone to run against," she said. "For one thing, you have the press, which has been uniquely hard on her. It's been a very sexist media. Some just don't like her. The others have gotten caught up in the Obama campaign.
"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," she continued. "And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

Shame on you, Geraldine Ferraro. You've had your fifteen minutes of fame.