Women in the Democratic Party are all in a tizzy these days about an innocent comment from Republican incumbent Massachusetts Senator, Scott Brown, in response to a jab by his Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Warren, during a Democratic candidates debate in the Massachusetts Senate race.
A student debate panelist asked the Democratic senate candidates to comment on Senator Brown’s 1982 nude modeling photo shoot for Cosmopolitan magazine:
"To help pay for his law school education, Scott Brown posed for Cosmo. How did you pay for your college education?"
"I kept my clothes on; I borrowed money," Warren
When asked later, during a radio interview, what he thought about Warren
Hah! Excellent! I say. Hilarious! A perfect tit for a tat!
Too bad the Democratic ladies don’t think so. "Sen. Brown's comments are the kind of thing you would expect to hear in a frat house, not a race for US Senate," whined Clare Kelly, executive director of the Massachusetts Democratic Party. "Scott Brown's comments send a terrible message that even accomplished women who are held in the highest esteem can be laughingly dismissed based on their looks."
Brown’s comment showed “disrespect for women,” howled U.S. House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi. “The response … really, I thought spoke volumes about how clueless Senator Brown is … It really spoke volumes about, really, disrespect for women that he may not even realize. I bet you he'd like to take that comment back ... I hope its joke-y. And if it is, then hopefully he will take that comment back. But women know. They hear a comment like that, it tells you a lot about somebody,” Pelosi wailed.
Nonsense! It seems to me that if a grown woman chooses to wade into the deep waters of major league political gotcha games, and take cheap shots at her male rivals, she ought at least to be ready and willing to take some good natured rhetorical abuse in return without slinking off to hide behind the poor little femininity shield.
Come on, ladies; Warren
The whole amusing flap instantly reminded me of the great man himself, British statesman and WWII Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, at his eloquent finest.
“You are drunk Sir Winston, you are disgustingly drunk,” a mean spirited old bat once admonished him. “Yes, Mrs. Braddock, I am drunk,” the sage rejoined. “But you, Mrs. Braddock are ugly, and disgustingly fat. But, tomorrow morning, I, Winston Churchill, will be sober.”
Kind of makes Scott Brown’s retort seem like a compliment, doesn’t it?
And, I wonder what the micro-thin-skinned Ms. Pelosi, Ms. Kelly, and the rest of the angry ladies would think about this perfect tit for tat gem from the quick witted old British gentleman:
“Mr. Churchill, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea!” said his high nosed detractor. “And if you were my wife, I would drink it!” the great man replied.
“Mr. Churchill, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea!” said his high nosed detractor. “And if you were my wife, I would drink it!” the great man replied.
How many jokes have been made about Christie's weight (Letterman had a whole Top Ten list about it).
ReplyDeleteHow many times have you seen a TV shop where a man says something a woman doesn't like and he receives an unprovoked slap, or a drink in the face, or some other physical assault from the woman. Does he retaliate? If he did, would there be outrage?
How many female news reporters laughed when they read the story about the man who had his penis cut off by his angry wife?
I recently received an e-mail message about precautions women should take in parking lots. It recommended if you see a man sitting in a car, you should immediately leave and get security. I contemplated sending the message back out, only changing the word "man" to "black man" to see how many people were outraged.
I saw on a TV show a scene where a man in a book store was talking innocently to a little girl only to be quickly hussled out of the store by his friends for fear that somebody would think he was a pedophile. This "accusation" was never overtly mentioned in the scene, but was easliy inferred by anybody familiar with the norms of today.
There are many more examples. It has become the norm to consider all men at best suspicious, at worst evil and presumptively guilty.