(Not) Fit to Print

A headline from the front page of yesterday's Wa Po: Racist Incidents Give Some Obama Campaigners Pause.

A headline that was not on the front page of yesterday's Wa Po or any other major U. S. newspaper: Clinton Campaign Brought Sexism Out of Hiding.

Let the record show that Roxie's World is officially horrified by the incidents recounted in Kevin Merida's story of Obama supporters having doors slammed in their faces or being subjected to racial epithets while stumping for their candidate. We are, of course, opposed to all forms of rudeness, and we recognize the uniquely violent history of racially motivated rudeness in the United States of America. We can also appreciate why the Obama campaign is going out of its way to minimize such incidents, on account of their occurrence might undermine belief in the salvific powers of the Precious, who shall deliver us all from the evils of racism and all other forms of unpleasantness.

Nonetheless, this story made us scratch our heads, and we don't think it's because we've got some early spring fleas running around up there. Reading it, we couldn't help but wonder:

• Did the Post bother to call the Clinton and McCain campaigns to find out if their supporters have ever had doors slammed in their faces or been hung up on with some less than polite remark when they called some poor likely voter at dinner time? Do we assume that all door-slams and all hang-ups are racially motivated? Is it fair to do that if we haven't investigated such incidents in other campaigns? We do, after all, live in a nation of famously rude people.
• On the other hand, why is racially motivated rudeness front-page news, while rudeness motivated by gender bias is not? Some have insisted that their hatred for Hillary Clinton is in no way gender-related. Fine, we still think it's news that a particular candidate who happens to be a woman is inspiring public displays of animus that are saturated with images of violence toward women. Go read the Marie Cocco piece we linked to above in case you haven't been keeping careful track of all the tasteless garbage that's been hurled at Clinton over the course of the campaign. Or, if you prefer a background of classical music as you take in nasty news, check out this video, which was sent to us directly by the folks who made it, because Roxie's World is, as you well know, the most powerful dog blog on earth devoted to politics, pop culture, and basketball. It's long but worth the watch:

Charming, yes? Sorry to focus on the negative on a morning when y'all might have expected some major happy dancing over Senator Clinton's stupendous win last night in West Virginia, but we wanted to call some attention to the issue of news judgment, which is also relevant in the West Virginia story, since all of this morning's headlines roughly translate to, "Clinton Kicks Obama's Butt in WVA, But It Matters Not At All Because the Media Called the Election a Week Ago, So Why Are Voters Even Bothering and When Will the Bitch Die So We Can Proceed With the Coronation of the Precious?"

For the smartest, fastest analysis of West Virginia you will find anywhere, go read, you guessed it, Anglachel, here and here.

Gotta run, kids. We're off to the vet this morning to talk about those worrisome blood tests, and then we've got some celebrating to do. Happy Birthday, Goose!!!