The most amazing part of this argument isn’t the Pavlovian resort to identity-card victimization, although that’s certainly amazing enough. It’s the total amnesia about how Democrats spent their 2012 summer vacation and the abject hypocrisy that follows that causes the jaw to drop. I missed this part of the Washington Post story on Democratic panic over Hillary Clinton’s continuing faceplants over her wealth, but David Frum pointed it out on Twitter (via Twitchy):

"Strategist Donna Brazile, a Clinton supporter, said scrutiny of Clinton’s speaking fees smacks of sexism.” http://t.co/5Lsdjjsl9X

— David Frum (@davidfrum) June 22, 2014

But Donna doesn’t go far enough. ANY unwelcome scrutiny of *anything* HRC says or does = sexism. http://t.co/5Lsdjjsl9X

— David Frum (@davidfrum) June 22, 2014

Here’s Brazile throwing the sexism card:

Strategist Donna Brazile, a Clinton supporter, said scrutiny of Clinton’s speaking fees smacks of sexism.

“I hope Hillary never apologizes for trying to earn a living,” Brazile said. “She’s no different than [former secretary of state] Colin Powell, no different than [former Florida governor] Jeb Bush, no different than anybody else who’s left public office and looked for ways to make an income. . . . What is wrong with a woman having the same earning potential as any man?”

Ahem. Brazile and her fellow Democrats spent all summer in 2012 attacking Mitt Romney’s wealth and the business he created, even while Barack Obama kept a former Bain exec as an advisor. Harry Reid accused Romney of tax evasion for a decade, allegations which proved utterly false, in an attempt to pressure Romney into releasing his income tax records for Democrats to attack — which they did, incessantly. Romney, who never pretended to be a middle-class guy “struggling” to pay his bills, got repeatedly painted as a prep-school elitist who couldn’t possibly understand the experience of middle America on the basis and origin of his wealth.

Now, suddenly, focusing on wealth is not just improper but sexist. In Clintonworld, what’s good for the gander is decidedly not good for the goose, so it’s time to smear critics to pre-empt the attacks. Outside Democrats aren’t the only ones panicking over Hillary’s gaffe-a-thon, apparently.

Later in the morning, Al Hunt dismantled Brazile’s argument on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, although without mentioning Brazile. Hunt even mentions the Bushes in contrasting Hillary’s hypocrisies and falsehoods to the manner in which wealthy political families have reconciled their status with voters:

The issue isn’t really wealth, but the Clintonian impulse to spin and prevaricate rather than deal with issues honestly and forthrightly. It didn’t take Hillary long to remind Americans of the more negative aspects of the Clinton era, and not long after that for her apologists to smear people for pointing it out. Just like old times …