Oh, the outrage!

Oh, the faux outrage!

Explaining that the "war on women" is a figment of the Democrats' imagination, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus has ignited a controversy with these words:

“If the Democrats said we had a war on caterpillars and mainstream media outlets talked about the fact that Republicans have a war on caterpillars, then we have problems with caterpillars,” Priebus told Bloomberg TV in an episode of "Political Capital with Al Hunt" airing Thursday night.

The Democratic National Committee says the comment “shows how little regard leading Republicans, including Mitt Romney, have for women’s health.” Indeed Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, long known for the Socratic subtlety of her arguments, said:

"To have the head of the GOP say these attacks on women are as fictional as a ‘war on caterpillars’ is callous and dismissive of what matters to women and completely out of touch. Chairman Priebus should know better and no amount of dismissive statements can change the facts: Mitt Romney and the Republican Party aren’t standing up for the issues important to women and their families, and women know it.”

I am much too weary to explain that Mr. Priebus was not comparing women to caterpillars. My guess is that you didn’t think he was. (I am not so sure about Ms. Wasserman-Schultz.) But this outrage, faux or dumb, gives you a hint at what the level of discourse is going to be during this presidential campaign.

If you’d like to know about somebody who has had war declared on him, read about this self-made businessman who is receiving hate calls.

Hat tip: the incomprable Alana Goodman