One of Hillary Clinton's biggest backers, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, has already gotten himself into trouble by his earlier racially charged statements. In February he claimed that Pennsylvanian voters were no better than backwood racists in Alabama when he said, "You've got conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate."
But Ed Rendell brings more baggage than that to the Hillary Clinton campaign. Ed Rendell, a man elected to represent the interests of all the citizens of Pennsylvania, with no regard to race, religion or sex, is part of a group that openly discriminates against women.
It is indeed ironic that the man leading Hillary Clinton's campaign in Pennsylvania will not allow her to be part of his most prized association, the Scottish Rite. Hillary Clinton is barred from membership in this powerful and influential group strictly because she is a woman.
How can Ed Rendell justify this? And how can Hillary Clinton act like she's capable of running the country when she accepts, by virtue of the fact that she has chosen Rendell as her spokesman, that she's not even qualified to be a member of his private club?
Another Hillary Clinton booster, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, practices the same discriminatory policies. Both Nutter and Rendell are part of organizations that barr women from membership.
Hillary Clinton should be ashamed of herself for tolerating public figures such as these, who openly advocate discriminating against people based strictly on their gender, as part of her campaign.
Rendell's problems go even deeper than Nutter's, however. Rendell's membership in the Scottish Rite is radically different than simply being part of the Freemasons, as Nutter is. Most of us know about the Scottish Rite because of Seinfeld's Michael Richards' racist rant. Unlike the Freemasons, the Scottish Rite has banned African-Americans from membership throughout most of its history. Even today, African-Americans are banned from membership in at least 10 states, including AL, GA, FL, LA, MS, TN, AR, TX, NC, and SC.
It should be troubling that Ed Rendell is part of a group that has such a disturbing racial history, but his part in supporting discrimination based on gender should not be dismissed. Ed Rendel would deny Hillary Clinton the right to be president of his own private club. Who in their right mind would choose him to lead a campaign for the first woman to be President of the United States?
Hillary Clinton needs to distance herself from Ed Rendell, and he needs to renounce his belief that women are not fit to be members of his inner circle.