Want to Refute The Idea That There's a "War On Women"?

The Pilot Newspaper: Opinion

Once again, I am bemused to find myself rising to the defense of Hillary Clinton, not because I’m particularly thrilled about her, but because some of her attackers have made themselves so ridiculous.
It seems that the Republican Party, rent by its own internal civil war, unable to stop themselves from babbling about ideas that alienate women, Latinos and young people, and with their own strongest candidate imploding before the primaries even start, has decided that it’s a winning strategy to tear down Hillary by talking about her husband, former president and White House horndog Bill Clinton.

Kentucky senator and supposed presidential aspirant Rand Paul got the ball rolling when he responded to accusations of a Republican “War on Women” by pointing the finger at the former president.

“One of the work place laws and rules that I think are good is that bosses shouldn’t prey on young interns in their office,” he said. “I think really the media seems to have given President Clinton a pass on this. He took advantage of a girl that was 20 years old and an intern in his office.”

A pass? Apparently the Honorable Gentleman from Kentucky was in some kind of coma in the late ’90s. You couldn’t turn on the TV without hearing a solemn discussion of when the president got his freak on, where he did it, and what it all meant. Sen. Paul apparently never had to leap to the remote to cut the news off when small children were in the room and the evening news anchors started discussing oral sex.

Paul went on: “Now, it’s not Hillary’s fault. But it is a factor in judging Bill Clinton in history.” So if it’s not the candidate’s fault, why bring it up? A bit disingenuous, no?

Clearly, Sen. Paul has decided that the best way to reach out to young voters is to talk about something that happened when they were infants, and the best way to address a female candidate’s record is by talking about her husband’s infidelity before the turn of this century.

A few days later, RNC Chairman Reince Preibus cited what he called a “truckload of opposition research on Hillary Clinton” to indicate his own willingness to party like it’s 1998. “Some things may be old,” he said, “and some things might be new. But I think everything is at stake when you’re talking about the leader of the free world.”

In an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Preibus described the release of old documents held by a close friend of Clinton’s at the time of the Lewinsky scandal as “significant.” Perhaps the candidate’s theme song for 2016 should be Jethro Tull’s “Living In the Past.”

As I’ve said before in these pages, I’ve never been that huge a Clinton fan. She’s one of those Democrats that I’ve described as Republican Lite. She always seems to go for the safe choice, rather than the bold one. And when it came time in 2008 to pick a campaign song, she picked an awful Céline Dion number over the Temptations.

But then I look at the alternatives in the Republican Party, and I see the biggest bunch of retreads, has-beens, whackaloons, and grifters it’s ever been my misfortune to behold. And they keep flogging the same losing message: “Be afraid! Those People are coming to take your stuff!” — with “Those People” (aka “the 47 percent”) being variously defined as women, immigrants, minorities, gays, the unemployed, and pretty much anyone who’s not rich, white, male, and angry.

Here’s the thing. The way to stop people from thinking your party’s waging a “War on Women” is not to go “Nuh-uh! YOU are! Your candidate’s husband messed around on her with a younger woman 20 years ago!”

The way to stop people thinking you’re waging a “War on Women” is to stop attacking them. Stop trying to take away their reproductive freedom. Stop babbling about concepts like “legitimate rape” and saying pregnancy resulting from rape is “what God intended to happen.” Stop demanding that women face invasive and unnecessary ultrasounds to get an abortion. Stop calling young women “sluts” because they want the insurance they pay or work for to cover contraception, the same way men’s insurance covers ED drugs.

Stop repealing or trying to repeal equal pay provisions, as Republican hero Scott Walker did in Wisconsin. Stop attacking a female politician because her husband fooled around on her. And stop supporting, defending, and coddling those who do.

Will You Listen To Yourself?

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It’s often said that a big part of our problems these days is that we don’t listen to one another. This is undeniably true. However, a big part of our problems also comes from people not listening to themselves.

If people could really hear, objectively, some of the stuff that comes out of them, they might reconsider ever speaking again. Take, for example, former Democratic Congress-man Anthony Weiner, now running a campaign for mayor of New York that’s an absolute train wreck.

Mr. Weiner’s sexy tweets and pictures of his manly part, sent over text and Twitter, have already been documented in nauseating and depressing detail. But then it was revealed that in some of his communiques, he called himself “Carlos Danger.” Really? Anthony. Dude. Step back for a moment and take a good look at yourself, and not through the viewfinder of your camera phone.

It’s true that New Yorkers are a tolerant bunch. After all, the last mayor’s wife had to get a restraining order to keep him from bringing his mistress into the mayor’s mansion. The denizens of the Big Apple can handle a womanizer. But if the latest plunge in your poll numbers is any indication, they draw the line at a cheesy and lame one.

Then there’s Weiner’s communications director, Barbara Morgan. Morgan recently responded to an unflattering online tell-all article written by a former intern with a blistering and profane tirade against said intern that I’d love to reproduce for you here, except that not one word in three could be printed in a family newspaper.

Her excuse? She didn’t know she was on the record. Babs, sweetie, listen to yourself for a minute. You’re the communications director. Isn’t it part of your job to know when you’re on and when you’re off the record?

Another person who should probably have listened to what’s coming out of his mouth is Kentucky Sen. and probable GOP presidential candidate Rand Paul. Speaking at a fundraiser in Tennessee, Paul directed a slam at New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (also a likely presidential candidate) and New York Congressman Peter King: “They are precisely the same people who are unwilling to cut the spending. They are ‘gimme, gimme, gimme all my Sandy money now.’”

Oh, Randy, no. Are you listening to the sounds that come out of the front of your head? There’s plenty of spending you could have chosen to mention. But spending on victims of Hurricane Sandy? That’s what you’ve chosen to demonize? Do you hear what you’re saying?

Christie, never one to sit still for an insult, responded quickly, noting that Paul’s state gets back $1.51 from the federal government for every dollar it pays in federal taxes, while New Jersey gets back only 61 cents. He sarcastically praised Paul for his skill in “bringing home the bacon.”

Paul then fired back a zinger of his own, describing the portly Christie as “the king of bacon.” Because when you’re having a serious debate on spending priorities, the best way to get your point across is with a fat joke. Stay classy, Senator Paul.

But for sheer “do you even hear yourself?” effrontery, it’s hard to beat San Diego Mayor Bob Filner.

Filner, as of this writing, has been accused of sexual harassment by no fewer than eight women. Apparently, Hizzoner’s preferred seduction technique was to put his intended paramour in a headlock and/or tell her that she should come to work without underwear on. It worked about as well as you’d expect.

What qualifies Filner for the Chutzpah Hall of Fame, however, is his request that the city pay his legal bills for the defense of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by one of his victims, in part because — get this — the city failed to provide him with sexual harassment training.

“It is my understanding,” Filner’s lawyer wrote, “that such training was scheduled, but the trainer for the city unilaterally canceled. … Therefore, if there is any liability at all, the city will almost certainly be liable for ‘failing to prevent harassment.’” The city declined to chip in, probably because they’re suing him too.

Back many years ago, when I was working in radio, we had what was called a “seven-second delay” — a tape gizmo that allowed us to cut off the transmission if, for example, someone dropped an F-bomb or said something otherwise inappropriate. With all of modern technology, you’d think we could design something similar to strap to politicians so they can think, however fleetingly, about how what they say is going to sound.