Gender and Racial Politics Take Center Stage

The nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court has focused the country once again on race and gender, a political discussion that can get very nasty. Listen to this exchange on NBC News:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT BUCHANAN: He got down to four women. Not a single white male. All women and then we're going to pick the Hispanic.

NORA O'DONNELL, NBC NEWS: Did it ever occur to you, Pat, maybe there weren't any white men who were qualified?

BUCHANAN: Yes — no, it did not occur to me. You mean there are no white males qualified? That would be an act of bigotry to make a statement like that.

O'DONNELL: In the past there have been no women that have been qualified.

BUCHANAN: They certainly have been qualified in the past.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

So I guess according to Ms. O'Donnell, it's payback time.

No matter how you feel about Judge Sotomayor, you should understand that there is a double standard when it comes to evaluating political people. If you are a woman or a minority, you will be treated differently, especially in the liberal press. The left sees white men as a problem. They believe women and minorities in power is a solution to that problem. That is called gender and race politics.

With minority voters now able to swing presidential elections, gender and racial situations become extremely important.

This morning I received an interesting letter from Eileen Mullan, who lives in Weston, Wisconsin: "Bill, you state the GOP will alienate Hispanic voters if they fight against Ms. Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. Perhaps you are right, but I don't think you understand how many of us voting citizens are sick of the political games."

I am very aware of voter anger, Eileen. And the Republican Party should challenge the judge, but in a meaningful way. Calling her names will damage the party. Respectful debate will not. That's my point.

Of course, it is true that the liberal media was vicious towards Judge Clarence Thomas and Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, and the Democratic Party does not seem to have paid a price for that, as blacks and Hispanic-Americans continue to support the Dems in large numbers.

But the media spin is this: If conservatives go after women or minorities, they are seen as bullies. If liberals attack minorities who are conservative, they are still seen as champions of the underdog. That is brutally unfair, but when has the media ever been fair?

So President Obama shrewdly nominated a judge who will most likely be confirmed and whose presence could damage the Republican Party in the process. Another big time political move from Mr. Obama, who certainly learned his Chicago lessons well.

And that's "The Memo."

Pinheads & Patriots

We encourage all Americans to get as much exercise as possible, even though we often fail to do that. As you may know, YouTube is full of crazy videos, and here's one showing a guy in Japan and his dog working out. We are impressed. However, the dog looks in better shape than the guy, does he not? Exercise is patriotic because it cuts down on bad health, so there you go.

Click here to watch "Pinheads & Patriots"!

On the pinhead front, apparently Gov. Schwarzenegger is not a big fan of Rush Limbaugh:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, R-CALIF.: They say that Rush Limbaugh is the 800-pound gorilla in the Republican Party, but I think that's mean-spirited to say that, because I think he's down to 650 pounds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

For getting personal, the governor is a pinhead.

— You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Pinheads & Patriots" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com