Somerby on Ferraro:

“This is a very emotional campaign for me,” she said. As she said this, she described a problem which has plagued this Democratic campaign on various sides. Beyond that, we disagree with a few of the things she said in these excerpts—but then, we strongly agree with some others. And we think these remarks present a context for her other remarks—a context which has been tossed away this week, as so often occurs in what we call our political discourse.

What do we disagree with here? Along with many other Democrats, Ferraro has been living on Mars if she believes (we don’t doubt that she does) that the press has been “uniquely hard” on Clinton in this campaign—if she believes that the role of the media “has been far larger than anything I’ve seen before.” We agree that the press corps has gone after Clinton, especially after October, often in ways which have been inexcusable. But starting in March 1999, they went after Candidate Gore much longer and a bit harder. We believe Ferraro when she suggests that she doesn’t understand that history. In our experience, most Big Dems and Big Liberals don’t.

So Ferraro is wrong about that point—but she’s right about others. For example, we have seen “a very sexist media” during this campaign. Though we ourselves avoid that term (more heat than light), we’ve been writing about the gender-trashing of Clinton since late 2006. The gender-trashing was nasty and endless, and it came from familiar press elements—elements which have been destroying Big Dems ever since they went after Gore. (Chris Matthews, you big f*cking tool, come on down!) But so what? All around the pseudo-liberal world, high-minded boys looked contentedly on. Today, they’re troubled by all that racism! Sorry. Many times, if you pick-and-choose that way, you end up with “emotional” people complaining about your candidate.

We wouldn’t have said the things Ferraro said; nor would we have trashed her for them. But many people have gotten “emotional” (sometimes counter-productively so) as they’ve seen their candidate get gender-trashed. (Bill Clinton would be one example.) Then, there are those who didn’t speak up during this long, inexcusable process. Last night, Keith set aside his usual practice of mocking young women to offer one of his phony rants about the way the Clinton campaign is now of a piece with David Duke! For our money, Keith became unwatchable long ago, when his self-impressed rants were still aimed at Bush. (As the Church Lady might have said: Aren’t his comments special!) But now, you can add his self-impressed (pro-Obama) noise to that foolish (pro-Clinton) insult about those Jimmy Choo shoes.

Obama supporters just like Jimmy Choos! No: The Clinton campaign sounds like David Duke! And that ad was like Birth of a Nation! Readers, you can’t get dumber than our liberal elites! Therefore, we think you have two choices: You can choose to be dumb your whole life, or you can choose to reject them. In our view, this is your party on rectitude, a party in love with the sound of its dumbness. Self-impressed boys who let Chris Matthews rave on are now sooo deeply upset with Ferraro! In the process, an authentic straight-talking war hero straight-shooter may be getting that much more comfortable in his own skin.

Many people have said and done stupid (or perhaps dishonest) things during this campaign. On Monday, we spoke about “shirts and skins,” a way we fellows divide the world when we play pick-up basketball. But then, the human brain is wired that way; it was wired, during many years of prehistory, to see the world as “us and them.” As long as you submit to that wiring, you’ll feel the insults aimed at your tribe—and you’ll gaze dumbly at the emotions of others. You’ll understand your own team’s sense of offense—and be puzzled by Ferraro’s.

When you’re a shirt, you’re a shirt all the way, if we may quote the old musical.

And when you’re a shirt, only skins commit fouls! We fellows have seen how it works on the court—but it becomes a lot more harmful when it’s exported to political battles. In this campaign, major players on various sides have said dumb things—or behaved dishonestly. Race cards have been—or may have been—played on various sides. And no, it isn’t easy to know when these cards are being deliberately dealt. Although, of course, it always feels good to pretend we do know—to rant histrionically.

Some of you will now compose e-mails, describing the outrageous offenses committed against your virtuous side. You might find yourself talking about things which offended you; you might not find yourself wondering about the things which may have offended someone else. You may even find yourself explaining somebody’s motives—where motive may be hard to detect. You may find yourself in the grip of a high level of certainty.

In short, you may find yourself repping the shirts, railing about what the vile skins have done. You may be “emotional” too! When you’re a shirt, you’re a shirt all the way! We’ll suggest that’s how Rove wins elections.