I was on MSNBC yesterday afternoon to comment on a careless statement issued by the National Republican Congressional Committee in which they urged Gen. Stanley McChrsytal to put House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “in her place.” While this was, no doubt, sloppy work on the part of the NRCC, there was nothing actually sexist about what they were saying. Rather, their point was that Pelosi should be put back in her place of power!
As House Speaker she has a full plate – health care reform, Cap ‘n Trade, Charlie Rangel – and she ought to focus her attention where its needed.
Yet, the left has used this as an opportunity to fall back on their age-old tactic of screaming sexism and redirecting the conversation. But this time it’s just way too transparent. What’s crystal clear is that Democrats are desperately trying to rebound from a string of policy disasters – from the failed Olympic bid to the fact that the president of France called Obama naïve at the G-20 Summit last week.
While vestiges of sexism exist in the world of politics, surely the Speaker of the House has a thicker skin than this. She didn’t get where she is by screaming sexism. (And, hey, where was the outrage throughout the 2008 campaign when the blogosphere was skewering Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton?) It doesn’t do women any good to scream sexism every time they don’t like what they hear from their opponents. Especially when we have so much else at stake.
