Regular readers of this publication are no doubt aware that we are not admirers of the Obama administration, but we now find ourselves in the unaccustomed position of defending it against charges of racism and sexism.
The president has lately been forming a brand new “inner circle” of cabinet members and advisors, the old one apparently having decided to get out while the getting is good and cash in on the memoir-and-lecture racket, and there seems to be some controversy afoot regarding how very white and male the newcomers are. The New York Times weighed in with a story about it, complete photographic evidence of the new staff’s offending racial and sexual characteristics, and White House press secretary Jay Carney was compelled to defend the administration’s hiring policies during a recent press briefing.
“The president does believe that diversity is very important,” said Carney, who is himself a white male, “and he also believes that picking the absolute right person for each job is very important.”
Such sentiments should be celebrated, and we wish that more voters had taken a similarly meritocratic approach to choosing a president in the last election, so we shall not take issue with the race and sex of the president’s appointees. Some of our best friends are both white and male, and we have no doubt that such people could make capable public servants. Carney was speaking specifically of Senators John Kerry and Chuck Hagel, who have been tapped for the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense posts, which does not exactly bolster our point, but we’d like to believe their obvious unfitness for those offices has nothing to do with their being white guys.
Still, the Obama critics should feel free to revel in the delicious irony of the president’s apparent preference for white males. He won re-election by warning the distaff voters of the Republicans’ “war on women” and telling African-American voters that “They’re gonna put y’all back in chains,” while his supporters explicitly cited the president’s swarthiness as one of the main reasons to vote for him, so it’s somewhat gratifying to see the president coming under the fire for making choices that aren’t based on race and sex.
If only the president’s appreciation for diversity extended to a variety of ideas and experiences, and the white guys he was choosing weren’t all left-wingers from the public sector, we’d almost be hopeful about the second term.
— Bud Norman
The Central Standard Times 