Michelle Obama is being serially swift-boated with both sexist and racist slurs. Yet Hillary Clinton -- who so recently suffered similar attacks of sexism, though not racism -- is unaccountably silent.

We understand that Hillary is tired – God knows, there are not many women within a ten year window of her age who could have matched the hours she kept on the campaign trail.

We understand that Hillary may be emotionally spent. Losing the chance to become the first woman president --at least in this election cycle --  must be genuinely demoralizing, as it must be disheartening to face a 30 million dollar debt.

And, if she were still in the running, we might also understand (if revile) the fact that it would make old-politics-strategic-sense to sit back and watch the sexist and racist damage being inflicted on Michelle Obama.  After all, Hillary is, by nature, a pragmatist, and she warned us: “You know, anything can happen…” (between now and the convention).  We can easily see, from that perspective, that character assassination is nothing  compared to, “you know,” whatever.

So all these considerations support Hillary’s posture of silence. Except – wait a minute….

Hillary is not still in the running, is she?

No, of course not. She has proven her acceptance of defeat by gamely endorsing Obama.

But, but… surely, in this new circumstance, she would want to lend credence to the feminist leader role she recently  assumed by rejecting and renouncing the slurs against Michelle Obama; and, surely, she would urge her supporters to do the same. Because, if nothing else, surely it would serve her own future interests to do so, as it would serve  those that are germane, now, for Michelle Obama?

So we are left, baffled. Because there is a disconnect here --unless Hillary has a wish for revenge that is stronger than her political savvy. And we know she is too smart for that.

So the alternative is that she is secretly posting here, telling us her innermost, if politically incorrect feelings, under the TPM pseudonym, Dijamo.

There is a particularly mean-spirited  email floating around that urges you, as a "patriotic American," to boycott all Chinese products from June 4th -July 4th. It's filled with the usual angry flag-waving, breast-beating, "we're-number-one" righteousness that so distinguishes us in the eyes of the global community.
I would object to this email, as it is phrased,  under any circumstances -- because the purpose of its subtext is to fan the flames of a particularly virulent xenophobia in which we are encouraged to regard the Chinese people as if each and every one of them is responsible for what their corporations and product inspectors overlooked.
But I object to this email, in particular, because its timing is as tonedeaf as it is possibly to be.
Have we forgotten the shell shock of loss, the staggering sense of disorientation that gripped this country in the wake of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina??? Why, then, would we so callously decide that this is the moment to reprimand a population that has  been brought to  its knees by the earthquake that killed 69,000 of its citizen -- thousands of whom were schoolchildren?
I work with Chinese exchange students who have been walking around our campus  as if they are the living dead. You know that look -- you saw it personally if you lived in Manhattan in 2001or on the Gulf Coast in 2005; and, regardless of where you live, you saw it in  photograph after photograph, news video after news video.
These students represent everyone in China. They cannot express their grief, as we could not express ours, because there are no words to communicate loss of that magnitude.  Instead, they communicate mutely, silent tears streaming down their faces, as they show us photos and videos that have been sent to them from home. The images are personal and powerful and poignant beyond any imagining. One student has no where to go this summer, as his entire village, as well as his family, is gone.
So, "my fellow Americans,"  I urge you to boycott this boycott. Instead of forwarding this email, just hit "Delete."