Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Fun Fact #26: There's an obession with being "PC"

I've always been a news junkie and I like being informed of what's happening around me. The news for the past days has either been focused on the recession we are probably entering (or, according to some sources, already entered) or the current primaries. Economics isn't really my strong point, so I tend to focus more on the political side of things. Though those are admittedly tied together as voters realize that, once again, "It's the economy, stupid".

But while all the candidates are trying to explain how they'll fix the economy, Obama and Hilary have also been engaged in mudslinging fight against each other. They've each brought up the issues of race and sex, and, though they claim they want to focus on the issues, the personal attacks don't look like they're stopping.

The Weekly Standard, a neo-con magazine, printed an article entitled The Wages of Sensitivity. I don't usually read The Weekly Standard, as I find their ultra-conservative rhetoric too extreme, but this article touches on some interesting points about the Hilary v. Obama battle we're currently witnessing.

The article argues that the Clinton's helped define the political correctness in the 1990s that now defines much of the party's rhetoric, but they're being forced to undermine their own ideals in this current race. As the article states:
"In its campaign season from hell, the party of sensitivity has found itself in a head-banging brawl between a black man and white woman, each of them visibly loathing the other, in a situation in which anything said in opposing one of the candidates can be defined as hateful, insensitive, hurtful, demeaning, not to say bigoted, and, worst of all, mean."
I don't agree with everything the article says, but it's a good read that deftly analyzes the cut-throat atmosphere of the Democratic primaries among both the candidates and their supporters. All in all, it seems that people can, and will, take offense to almost any comment if they realize it can benefit.

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