Tom Toles: The Audacity Of Hate

Former donkey vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, who now supports Hillary Clinton, has everything all figured out. And she is "absolutely not" about to apologize for saying how it is.

According to the LA Times,

Ferraro, the first woman to be on the ticket as a vice presidential candidate in either party, ignited a controversy when she told the Daily Breeze of Torrance that: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman [of any color] he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

And now she's saying

"My comments have been taken so out of context and been spun by the Obama campaign as racist," she said on ABC's "This Morning America." "That, you know is doing precisely what they don't want done -- it's going to [divide] the Democratic Party and dividing us even more."

Here's some background on Ferraro, from the article in the Daily Breeze:

Born in 1935, Ferraro was a teacher, a lawyer and member of the Queens County District Attorney's office prior to being elected to the U.S. Congress in 1978, representing New York's 9th District. But it was the presidential campaign of 1984 that thrust her into the national spotlight, when Ferraro was chosen to be Walter Mondale's running mate. The campaign lost in a landslide to Ronald Reagan.

After two failed attempts to gain a seat in the United States Senate, Ferraro was appointed ambassador to the United Nations Committee on Human Rights during the Clinton administration. From 1996 to 1998 she appeared as co-host of the political television show "Crossfire." Currently, Ferraro is a senior managing director of the Global Consulting Group, a corporate public relations firm.

Despite suffering from multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer that limits her energy, Ferraro said she is committed to keeping up an active speaking schedule and doing everything she can to help the Clinton campaign.

"I'm on Hillary's finance committee. I've done a fundraiser for her here at my firm. And I went and worked the phone banks before Super Tuesday. I have to tell you, this is a very emotional campaign for me," Ferraro said.

Very emotional indeed.

When the subject turned to Obama, Clinton's rival for the Democratic Party nomination, Ferraro's comments took on a decidedly bitter edge.

"I think what America feels about a woman becoming president takes a very secondary place to Obama's campaign - to a kind of campaign that it would be hard for anyone to run against," she said. "For one thing, you have the press, which has been uniquely hard on her. It's been a very sexist media. Some just don't like her. The others have gotten caught up in the Obama campaign.

"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," she continued. "And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept." Ferraro does not buy the notion of Obama as the great reconciler.

"I was reading an article that said young Republicans are out there campaigning for Obama because they believe he's going to be able to put an end to partisanship," Ferraro said, clearly annoyed. "Dear God! Anyone that has worked in the Congress knows that for over 200 years this country has had partisanship - that's the way our country is."

So there's the context.

Vote for Hillary because she will divide the country.

Not that any of this matters in the least, but I thought you might be interested.