cawacko
Well-known member
From our local paper, thought it kind of fascinating on a couple of fronts. Growing up in Oakland I met a lot of people who went to Cal Berkeley back during the free speech movement and they were found of saying their beliefs were to always question authority and speak truth to power. Politically, those phrases were often associated more with those on the left. Fast forward to today where if you speak out against power you will have groups of people hunting you down. (Any Beyonce followers here? I think her fans are known as the BeyHive and they will attack people who they feel disrespect or say anything they don't approve of Beyonce. Sounds like Kamala's KHive backers are the same.)
I do understand the argument that women, and women of color especially, have not been treated well in the past (just saw it two days ago with Lemon's comment about Haley). So it's not out of bounds pointing out double standards that women face. But I don't understand the idea that because Harris is a woman of color that she's essentially off limits to criticism unless it's coming from someone that is black.
Why Democrats are afraid to vocalize their Kamala Harris concerns
In a column that published on Thursday, Jonathan Martin — the politics bureau chief and senior political columnist at Politico — spoke with several prominent Democrats who say they have concerns about Vice President Kamala Harris but are afraid to articulate them over fears of getting accused of "racial and gender insensitivity."
The column is centered around how Democrats are publicly backing President Joe Biden's looming reelection announcement (reportedly coming in April) but privately have worries about his age, as he would be 82 years old at the start of a second term. Martin, who spoke with Democratic governors, senators and representatives for the column, states that the only topic of conversation these lawmakers find more uncomfortable than Biden's age is Kamala Harris. Not only do they have fears about her political abilities as Biden's presumptive heir apparent, but they also fear backlash for saying as much out loud.
"Democrats have seen what happens when anyone in their party openly criticizes Harris — they’re accused by activists and social-media critics of showing, at best, racial and gender insensitivity," Martin writes. "This doesn’t stifle concerns about her prospects, of course, it just pushes them further underground or into the shadows of background quotes."
He backs up his argument here with an anonymous quote from a House Democrat who said, “The Democrats who will need to speak out on her are from the Congressional Black Caucus, no white member is going to do it.”
Harris' legion of online supporters is reason enough to avoid criticizing her publicly. Known as "the KHive," the group has become notorious for going after critics of the vice president. A Huffpost article from 2020 describes an incident in which a woman was subjected to a campaign of harassment from self-identified members of the KHive on Twitter after she came to the defense of her son, who was also attacked for announcing he would no longer be supporting Harris for president that cycle.
Even high-profile Democrats who enjoy wide-ranging support of their own have had to be careful with their public comments about Harris. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren set off a minor controversy last month when she seemed noncommittal in supporting Harris as Biden's running mate in 2024. After some interpreted Warren's comments as a pitch for herself to replace Harris, the senator walked her comments back and gave the vice president her full support.
Read Martin's full column in Politico.
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/democrats-fear-vocalizing-harris-concerns-17791069.php
I do understand the argument that women, and women of color especially, have not been treated well in the past (just saw it two days ago with Lemon's comment about Haley). So it's not out of bounds pointing out double standards that women face. But I don't understand the idea that because Harris is a woman of color that she's essentially off limits to criticism unless it's coming from someone that is black.
Why Democrats are afraid to vocalize their Kamala Harris concerns
In a column that published on Thursday, Jonathan Martin — the politics bureau chief and senior political columnist at Politico — spoke with several prominent Democrats who say they have concerns about Vice President Kamala Harris but are afraid to articulate them over fears of getting accused of "racial and gender insensitivity."
The column is centered around how Democrats are publicly backing President Joe Biden's looming reelection announcement (reportedly coming in April) but privately have worries about his age, as he would be 82 years old at the start of a second term. Martin, who spoke with Democratic governors, senators and representatives for the column, states that the only topic of conversation these lawmakers find more uncomfortable than Biden's age is Kamala Harris. Not only do they have fears about her political abilities as Biden's presumptive heir apparent, but they also fear backlash for saying as much out loud.
"Democrats have seen what happens when anyone in their party openly criticizes Harris — they’re accused by activists and social-media critics of showing, at best, racial and gender insensitivity," Martin writes. "This doesn’t stifle concerns about her prospects, of course, it just pushes them further underground or into the shadows of background quotes."
He backs up his argument here with an anonymous quote from a House Democrat who said, “The Democrats who will need to speak out on her are from the Congressional Black Caucus, no white member is going to do it.”
Harris' legion of online supporters is reason enough to avoid criticizing her publicly. Known as "the KHive," the group has become notorious for going after critics of the vice president. A Huffpost article from 2020 describes an incident in which a woman was subjected to a campaign of harassment from self-identified members of the KHive on Twitter after she came to the defense of her son, who was also attacked for announcing he would no longer be supporting Harris for president that cycle.
Even high-profile Democrats who enjoy wide-ranging support of their own have had to be careful with their public comments about Harris. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren set off a minor controversy last month when she seemed noncommittal in supporting Harris as Biden's running mate in 2024. After some interpreted Warren's comments as a pitch for herself to replace Harris, the senator walked her comments back and gave the vice president her full support.
Read Martin's full column in Politico.
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/democrats-fear-vocalizing-harris-concerns-17791069.php
