Frank Rich Reconsiders the Election Hoopla

The most e-mailed story from the New York Times this morning was Frank Rich's Sunday column on the election, a column that celebrated the election of Barack Obama to the highest office in the land.

The column also provided a powerful critique of the past eight years, years that have not been good for democracy or open government.

A sample:

For eight years, we've been told by those in power that we are small, bigoted and stupid—easily divided and easily frightened. This was the toxic catechism of Bush-Rove politics. It was the soiled banner picked up by the sad McCain campaign, and it was often abetted by an amen corner in the dominant news media.

And there's more. Reviewing the racial politics of the election, Rich wrote:

Obama also won all four of those hunting-and- Hillary-loving Rust Belt states that became 2008's obsession among slumming upper-middle-class white journalists: Pennsylvania and Michigan by double digits, as well as Ohio and even Indiana, which has gone Democratic only once (1964) since 1936. The solid Republican South, led by Virginia and North Carolina, started to turn blue as well. While there are still bigots in America, they are in unambiguous retreat.

For the complete Rich column, click here.