It Sucks MORE To Be ME

Okay, quiz time. Multiple choice:

1 Which group faces more hurdles and discrimination in life, and a more marked reduction in "life chances?"
2. Which group has been so oppressed, so put down and so excluded from the Halls of Power (TM) that they are singularly deserving of having one of their number hold the Presidency of the United States of America?
3. A member of which group cannot be elected to the White House, because America "isn't ready?"

Possible answers:
A. African Americans
B. Women

Something tells me it's time to start betting on President McCain. It's been said that the Republicans have been assembling thousands of pages of dirt on whomever the Democratic nominee turns out to be (smart money is still on Obama). As near as I can see, it would be a complete waste of time. At the rate things are going, no matter what happens, it seems that a pretty sizable chunk of the supporters of the losing candidate are going to feel victimized by people who didn't vote for the "right" candidate. All the Republicans are going to have to do is continue the conflict between African-Americans and women over who's been victimized more over the years, and Senator Obama (yes, I'm calling the election for him - it's not like I'm going out on a limb here) will go from being a symbol of American strides against racism to a symbol of an entrenched and intractable sexism. Couple that with a revival of the "Southern Strategy," and chalk up another President in the "R" column. And you know that the Republicans will revive the Southern Strategy - although it might wind up being re-branded as the Appalachian Strategy, given the primary results from West Virginia and Kentucky. If there is any chance of it making the difference between winning and losing a state, they'd be idiots not to. Being a good sport is laudable, but playing to win is smarter.

So, McCain wins in November, and the Clinton and Obama die-hards start pointing fingers, and "the Man" (whomever that is) wins in the way that the Man always does - by playing his enemies off against one another. And African-Americans and Women continue to squabble over the right to regard themselves as the bigger victim. Not only is the fight over who's been victimized more unwinnable, it's pointless and toxic. It's also predicated on the bizarre assumption that other a victory for one group is a win for EVERYONE, while a victory for the other group is simply oppressive business as usual. It's past time it ended.