One more thing. Ezra says that culture-bashing can be the Democrat's "Sister Souljah" moment, where the party defines itself by running against type. Ah yes, I understand the concept completely. And I've always thought it a bit disgusting.

The original Sister Souljah, please remember, was taken utterly out of context and was in fact raising an important issue: namely, that black-on-black violence, if unchecked, could eventually spill over to white communities. But instead of paying even the slightest attention to the relevant issue, Bill Clinton "bashed" her to make upper-class white families feel good about themselves. It was a douchebag move at best. And yes, maybe "that's politics," but you can see the problem with always being willing to excuse this sort of thing. If you can't, ask yourself, how much has been done about black-on-black violence since the 1992 election? Right. There are more important things than politics...