We all play identity politics, stop feigning indignation

Krugman provides a little perspective on the crude accusations that the Sonia Sotomayer pick was an act of petty identity politics:

But is this any crazier, when you come down to it, than the Cult of Bush that ruled much of Washington for years? It was positive, not negative (though there was plenty of that too), but it was similarly about identity politics — you were supposed to support Bush, not because of how he did his job, but because he was, drumroll, a regular guy

Krugman is right for pointing out the cult of personality surrounding Bush. But we can't forget that Obama-mania propped up a messiah caricature, while the President has in actuality significantly betrayed his lofty image as principled defender of civil liberties, peace, and the rule-of-law. People on the left like Glenn Greenwald and Amy Goodman who rightly point to Obama's contradictions with respect to the treatment of detainees and AfPak strategy can only do so given that President Obama's campaign was largely void of substance--steeped in vague proclamations of American values and propelled largely by identity politics (a dearth of specifics allows for liberals to project their ideals onto him). Don't get me wrong, the Obama presidency has been positive in many respects, but even people like myself who find a home in the left must acknowledge that the fervor created by the abstract campaign was an impressive orchestration of identity politics. Obama was even commended by the advertising industry, awarded the title of marketer of the year for his campaign. How often have you known advertisers to value substance?

That's not to say President Obama himself is shallow, or that Sonia Sotomayer was an imprudent pick (it appears that she is a rather prudent one), but lets not kid ourselves--neither party has the right to cast the identity-politics stone. Both parties will pounce on any particular decision that has the optics of political posturing rather than principled judgment. Claims of indignation ought to be disregarded entirely; identity politics is the norm, not some morally depraved aberration.