Two interesting propositions:
Can a woman who hates Hillary and calls her names be a misogynist?
Can a black person who mistrusts Barack and names his vices be a racist?
No, of course not...Misogynist: One who hates or distrusts women. But wait; that says "one" (gender neutral) not "man" who hates....
Racist: "A belief that some races are by nature superior to others." But wait; that means it can cut both ways...and add "ethnicist" to the tangled web: a belief that one ethnic group is by nature superior to another. (I coined "ethnicist" as a formulation to further examine our long and anguished human condition; ethnic groups are strategically stationed across the planet to give anthropologists material for doctoral dissertations and undergraduates food for thought. And political junkies a reason to squabble.)
So can we assume that women can be self-flogging--ergo, misogynists, and blacks can be hyper-critical of one of their own, or self-defeating ethnicists? Gets very confusing.
In seeking out help to uncover these stereotypical slurs, which seem to preoccupy our species, I did find some fascinating case studies. One gem is the site set on stopping Obama. And it is owned by a black brother; http://www.stop-obama.org/?author=2. But he objects to Barack calling him a "brother." Jamal McCoy says that appellation is reserved for blood kin and resents being classified in some general racial grouping that tends to discount his individuality or God-given, democratic right to make up his own mind based on facts, not color of skin. I found that encouraging. At last, comes the glimmer of intelligent life in the darkness of virtual space travel. This site is biracial with many diverse opinions.
Mr. McCoy points out that Barack is only half black and is fairly high in the social strata, setting him apart from the proverbial "hood." I might add to the confusion and point out that Senator Obama is only half Christian (the other part he mutes, which is of Muslim tenets). He was sort of adopted by his Muslim-practicing step-father in Indonesia; at the time he was engaging in the pursuit of Islamic studies and was called Barry. For some reason, his mother shipped him back to Hawaii and he completed his prep education there. His religious study was...well that is rather sketchy in his bio regarding Hawaii. But we do know that his mother's Hawaii-based parents were athiests. Which is fine. Whatever floats your boat. In America, religious practice is a right, and we do forcefully resolve: democracy ever; theocracy, never--aka separation of church and state.
A really fun part of the stop-Obama site is McCoy's list of possible headlines he invented to cover the speech Senator Obama delivered in Philadelphia regarding race, racism, racial divides and his plans for crossing that bridge--to be named at a later date (after his inauguration, I take it). In any event the page is a jolly-good read http://www.stop-obama.org/?p=384 and worth the trip if you like getting a balanced snap of how some blacks actually perceive brother Obama. It is bitingly satirical, howlingly hysterical, and not only that, it's accessible--no quirky literary devices to get in the way of Mr. McCoy's message.
Some of my favorite McCoy faux headlines: Obama Lectures White Americans on Original Sin; Hate Speech is Fine, as Long as You're Really Angry; Obama--White Americans Hate Like Blacks, so We're Even; Blacks to White America--On Sunday We Hate You. Live with It.
The obvious conclusion is that blacks can critique blacks and women can criticize other women as long as content makes sense and holds to the rules of civil discourse. So many of those rules are unspoken and agreed upon intuitively. We know when someone crosses over into arid territory.
Another site I found that walks us down the path to truth involves a laundry list of Obama falsehoods (aka, lies). http://www.theaudacityofhypocrasy.com/?p=69 Up to April 06, '08, there have been 70 fabrications (aka lies) listed and "counting," according to the site's calculations.
Some statements are fully sourced and others are in the hopper for firm documentation. As Senator Obama's files remains elusive in spots, this is time consuming.
I do not know the ethnic makeup of the owners of hypocrisy site; I will submit to you that truth has no hue other than neutral, which can be used to color all other ideas. Just depends on how you view the criteria. That is called spinning the facts, and we all indulge this sport on occasion, if truth be told. Some are just more adept at it than others. And some politicians live a fantasy life where reality and fiction meld into an implausible plotline. That is called pathology; again, it isn't a matter of color, it is a matter of whom you care to believe.
