WendyMcElroy.com

Obama is black! Take a l-o-o-ong look at his black skin and, then, GET OVER IT! Start holding him to the same standards you would a POTUS who was white, yellow, or green.

Sometimes I want to scream this at liberals; this morning I want to scream it at PC feminists with whom Obama has achieved the impossible. The color of his skin has made feminists like NOW eschew criticising him on abortion...the one issue on which I agree with them. Well, okay, I don't agree with tax-funded abortion or some of the other politics with which they surround the issue...but "a woman's body, a woman's right," you betcha. And, admittedly, groups like NOW are not silence eschewing fury that's directed at Republicans and pro-life Dems like Bart Stupak whose health care Amendment not only nixes tax-funded abortions but also prevents women who receive tax subsidies from purchasing private insurance that covers abortion.

But where is the backlash against Obama? Does anyone believe he isn't complicit in the abortion compromise? Apparently NOW believes it. Either that or the ladies think he is powerless to curb the likes of pandering Pelosi and unwilling to direct a whisper of criticism their way. Instead of blasting the POTUS, NOW has preserved his status as savior by called upon "President Obama to refuse to sign any health care bill that restricts women's access to affordable, quality reproductive health care."

Yeah, that will happen. The Stimulus Bill is a monumental flop, the economy is tanking, ClimateGate is derailing "cap-and-trade," the War in Afghanistan gets more unpopular every day...and Obama will refuse to sign the one achievement of his defining first year? Does anyone at NOW read the news? You know, headlines like "Obama prods Democrats on health care. In rare visit, cites historic opportunity" in the Boston Globe (12/07). Does NOW believe that Senator Reid is having closed door meetings on "passage strategy" with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Obama doesn't know? How do they explain his utter silence on the abortion flap?

Ah, yes, that's right. He's black and that short-circuits all demands for an explanation. If the health care plan passes -- a big if -- and Obama signs it (as he most decidely will), then things will get interesting. We'll see whether PC feminists are willing to sacrifice the medical sacrament of abortion on the altar of racial politics. In short, will Obama get a free pass on abortion because of his skin color?