Racism and Sexism with Geraldine Ferraro

Remember Geraldine Ferraro? For those of you who don’t recall this electoral eminence, she was the highly competent lass who served as the vice presidential nominee on the Democratic ticket in Walter Mondale’s deeply successful 1984 campaign.

If memory serves, the impressive Mondale-Ferraro duo managed to win Minnesota and the District of Columbia alone. The other five thousand or so states went to a fellow called Ronald Reagan. Even Massachusetts plumped for the Republicans, for crying out loud.

Well, now Ms. Ferraro finds herself a die-hard Hillary Clinton supporter. And, as such, she’s mad as heck about the most recent Democratic presidential debate in Philadelphia, during which various fellow candidates—mirabile dictu—criticized Sen. Clinton for locutions one can only call Clintonian.

An article in the November 5 number of The New York Times offers Ms. Ferraro’s reaction:

“John Edwards, specifically, was well as the press, would never attack Barack Obama for two hours they [sic] way they attacked her,” said Geraldine Ferraro, the 1984 vice presidential candidate who supports Mrs. Clinton. “It’s O.K. in this country to be sexist,” Mrs. Ferraro said. “It’s certainly not O.K. to be racist. I think if Barack Obama had been attacked for two hours—well, I don’t think Barack Obama would have been attacked for two hours.”

Boy, oh, boy: Ferraro sure is worked up. And no wonder she considers the mainstream media irredeemably sexist—just look at how the Paper of Record incessantly refers to her as “Mrs. Ferraro,” as if her marital status mattered at all! Oh, the horror: You haven’t come a long way, sister.

Yet let’s examine Ms. Ferraro’s “thoughts” on this matter a bit more closely. According to this self-proclaimed feminist, it is sexist to treat female candidates for president according to the exact same standards as male candidates, since they are clearly more delicate. Thus John Edwards and his ilk are degenerate women-haters because they dared to offer extended criticism of a lady.

Similarly, according to this self-proclaimed liberal, it is racist to treat black candidates for president according to the exact same standards as white candidates, since they are clearly more delicate. Thus John Edwards and his ilk are not degenerate racists because they did not dare to offer extended criticism of a black man.

Can you, dear reader, feel the progressiveness? No wonder the Left considers itself the proper home for feminists and anti-racists!

Does anyone know if “Ferraro” is the Italian word for pandering? Or maybe paternalistic?