What is this “tokenism” of which you speak?
Malkin defends Bush’s track record of hiring fewer women and minorities than Clinton:
Before Bush took office, no minority had occupied any of the four highest-profile Cabinet positions — attorney general and the secretaries of the Defense, State and Treasury departments. Now, Alberto R. Gonzales, a Hispanic, is attorney general. Condoleezza Rice is the first African American woman to be secretary of state; her predecessor, Colin L. Powell, was the first African American named to that post.
In other words, Bush is an enemy of progress and civil rights because he has appointed too many minorities and women to top Cabinet positions–and not enough to lower, less important jobs!
Snort.
Let’s put aside for a moment the utter absurdity of calling being a “political appointee” a “lower, less important job.” Lower, less important than State, maybe, but there’s not a lot of “Chief Elephant Sperm Collectors” being appointed by President Bush. Malkin is essentially arguing that minorities in the Bush administration are in great shape as long as they had the foresight to be personal friends of the President.
And no, I’m not arguing that Gonzales, Rice, and Powell are some sort of unqualified “affirmative action hires”, so spare me, please. But somehow I doubt there are ten percent fewer qualified minorities and women today than there were during the Clinton administration.
good point but I would question Rice’s qualifactions. She was a disaster as National Security Advisor and isn’t doing that much better as Sec of State.
Comment by bob3 — May 9, 2006 @ 7:42 pm
http://mediamatters.org/items/200605090008
Did you see this? Watch the first, like, 20 seconds of the video. I LOVE how Malkin’s face visibly contorts in disgust when she says the word “minority”.
It’s hilariously telling how much she loathes herself.
Comment by eb — May 10, 2006 @ 4:09 am
I have to disagree with you. Positions like top dog at the State Department are more important than, say, being top dog at the Department of Agriculture. Anybody on any side of the political spectrum knows that is true.
Comment by mark — May 17, 2006 @ 6:04 pm