First of all, Ross Douthat is not big.  And he is not fat.  I concede those points*.

Mr. Douthat penned an op-ed piece for the June 29, 2o13, New York Times, in which he claims that Republican voter-restriction efforts were really a good thing for Democrats: “[By] trying to restrict the franchise on the margins, Republican state legislators handed Democrats a powerful tool for mobilization and persuasion, and motivated voters who might otherwise have lost some of their enthusiasm…”

In Mr. Douthat’s bizarre take, it is a good thing when a class of people are oppressed, because the fact of their oppression leads them to rise up against it and become stronger for having experienced it:  “… Voter ID laws … shape voter preferences and influence voter enthusiasm in ways that might well outstrip their direct influence on turnout.  They inspire registration drives and education efforts; they help activists fund-raise and organize; they raise the specter of past injustices; they reinforce a narrative that their architects are indifferent or hostile to minorities.”  In Mr. Douthat’s twisted view of the world, whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger — but of course he doesn’t need that kind of test, he’s strong enough already, thank you very much!

If I were Ross Douthat, I would advocate the re-institution of slavery — after all, what better way to help motivate its victims to eliminate racism for once and for all?

* Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot (and Other Observations) by Al Franken, 1996.