Keywords or Terms: Disdain for women; Disdain for spending too much money on women’s health; Sexist Comments; Megyn Kelly; Rosie O’Donnell; Donald Trump; FOX News Organized Republican Party Debate; Conservative Republicans; RedState.com; Erick Erickson; Sideshows; Civility and Respect; Barnum Effect; Women’s health; Planned Parenthood; Religious and Social Beliefs; Female voting group; Male dominated America; Presidential Campaigns; House and Senate Primaries
There is always a sideshow in every general election cycle in America. Think of it this way: Going by the early polling results, Real Estate Mogul Donald Trump is one of the most promising aspirants in the 2016 Republican Primary Campaign. This past week at the FOX News organized debate for the GOP aspirants, the leading candidate by polls, came off as not only assertive of his disdain for women and probably a much aggressive bully on the podium, he characterized the nature of questions from Megyn Kelly, one of the FOX News hosts, as not up to snuff or friendly. He immediately appeared at another competing network, CNN Television the next day (Friday), to chastised Megyn Kelly’s questions as ridiculous and off-base during the debate.
Subsequently on Saturday, the Republican front-runner tweeted, ‘you could see there was blood coming out of her whatever (Nose)’ to clarify probable misunderstanding of his comment to CNN’s Don Lemon a day before, where the Real Estate Mogul had made a closely similar statement to the tweet: “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes; Blood coming out of her wherever.” If the Republican front-runner was having fun with his feud with Megyn Kelly, maybe establishment Conservative Republicans were not finding the insistent derogative and probably sexist comments from their front-runner, funny anymore. It was fun and games when Mr. Trump railed against Rosie O’Donnell on Thursday night or when he made what Ms. Kelly passed as misogynistic and sexist comments at other times, during the FOX News organized debate.
Development over this very absurd situation has probably turned for the worse, as Erick Erickson, one of FOX News program contributors, disinvited the Republican front runner from an earlier scheduled RedState.com gathering in the city of Atlanta, Georgia. This high-profile gathering by Redstate.com under the auspices of its editor, Erick Erickson, will continue with other 2016 Republican aspirants including Carli Fiorina, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, Tom Cruz, Scott Walker, Rick Perry, Mike Huckabee and Marco Rubio. In place of Donald Trump, Megyn Kelly was invited to sit on the podium with the remainder Republican presidential aspirants. The sideshow has involved a lot of name calling and tit-for-tat comments from the Republican front-runner and the organizer of the conference; with Mr. Trump adding the following characterization of the RedState.com host: “Erick Erickson is a total loser who has a history of supporting establishment losers in failed campaigns.” For Mr. Trump, his altercation with Megyn Kelly isn’t a personality test or a Conservative Republican test of who qualifies to be at a conservative event, as he added to his comments on Mr. Erickson, “It is an honor to be uninvited from this event.”
If any supporter of Mr. Trump’s campaign was disappointed by his absence from the Redstate.com pow-wow, maybe another heartfelt statement from his campaign will suffice: “this is just another example of weaknesses through being politically correct… For all the people who were looking forward to Mr. Trump coming, we will miss you.” This is where the fun and games probably will end with establishment Republican Conservatives and their party’s front-runner. Mr. Trump still tweets that, Republicans ought to get back to work and stop wasting time and energy on nonsense! The difficult aspect is this: While some Conservative Republicans find many of Mr. Trump’s “misogynist” comments as reprehensible and unworthy of someone aspiring to become the President of the United States, other Republicans believe that the party’s establishment are attempting to discredit their party’s front-runner because they are very much afraid or scared of him and his candidacy.
Americans listening to the rumbling in the Republican Party are probably saying it is now too late for Republicans to complain about the outrageousness of Mr. Trump’s comments, or what the establishment Republicans consider as unacceptable from their front runner. The birther’s hegemony was appropriate against the Democrats for as long as it lasted, the misogynist comments from the darling of the Tea Party faction of the Republican Party must also be okay and in order? The three-ring circus has been peddled by the Tea Party faction of the Republican Party over the past six years. Their position has often remained, our way or the highway. Often, derogative comments about the current occupier of the White House were in order or okay with the Republican Establishment who could not stand the fact that President Barack Obama is black. The shoe is now on the other foot within the party. Women, a voting block that often makes the formidable impact every four years during the presdiential elections, is now being lampooned, and probably insulted by the Republican front-runner. It is hardly acceptable to use inflammatory language to carry on a campaign, it is even much difficult, when you call women fat pigs, dogs, slobs, disgusting animals and bimbo in this modern day communication environment. Often comments as these have a way of creeping into social media with very dastardly result for any person, not to talk of a Presidential aspirant currying the favor of voters, who may make or break his or her chances.
Mr. Donald Trump may not be a fan of political correctness; however, reliable presidential campaign strategists will inform the Republican Party front-runner that, the safest strategy is to remain likeable always when you are seeking favor from over 100 million voters who may make or break your dream. When you have women opinion leaders and fellow female contestant getting into war of words on issues of civility and respect, no matter how great you consider your candidacy and campaign, the chicken would someday come to roost! Any Presidential aspirant will do himself or herself a favor by distancing his candidacy from any side shows that will derail his message for the White House oval office. The type of acrimonious and personality issues, including a candidature’s credibility regarding respect for a huge chunk of the American voters, must be troubling for any concerned aspirant for the highest office in the land. The issue of trust and respect for women and their major concerns, must not and may not be taken lightly in a presidential campaign.
On the surface, the current sideshow, and probably prior ones since 2012 Presidential campaign are seemingly unacceptable, even with the far-right group in the Republican Party. If Mr. Trump reflects on the incidence(s) surrounding his campaign since his altercation with Ms. Megyn Kelly, he would have objectively come to the conclusion that, taking the fight to the media or someone well revered by his perceived supporters, is not actually a good idea. You do not want to bite the finger that feeds you; however, how do you want your candidacy to be distinct, one that is really not ready to fall in line with the expectation of the establishment in your party? The instruments of communication in modern media environment call for the reliable and consistent outpour of opinions that are easily identifiable or acceptable by a preponderance of supporters.
Politics of personality, while very much in making in the Republican Party, has a downside to it: it is not often that a ‘Barnum Effect’ applies in all campaign circumstances. It is not often that a sucker is born every minute as postulated by the 20th-century industrial psychologist. The personality test for a politician seeking the highest office in the land is credibility with multiples of interest groups, power brokers, matchmakers, movers and shakers in a party. The female voting blocks in America is not made of all suckers; consistent and perverse disrespect of this very important group of voters, will not get an offending aspirant anywhere no matter what his or her campaign strategists are feeding you.
As with body odor, the adverse effect of blatant disregard for the feelings of a huge chunk of the voting populace, reads very much as a disaster in the making. When you liken complaints about your use of language as an overzealous attempt by your critics to undermine your credibility, you may be failing to put yourself in the shoes of your critics. You may think the use of divisive language is appropriate to what you consider as off base and ridiculous statements; however, those statements are better imagined than voiced out in a public forum, where all eyes and ears are watching and listening to every of your movement and comments. No one goes to an in-laws house and disrespect the females in the household and expect them to willingly offer you the hands of one of their princesses!
Only a heretic would want to deny the obvious place of the far right in the Republican Party; and or their contributions to the candidacy of Real Estate Mogul Donald Trump. To a great extent, the far-right Republicans live in the shadows of aspirant Donald Trump or vise versa. Far as mainstream Republicans distance themselves from comments made by the front-runner of their party, and considering many unfortunate and or unflattering comments from Mr. Trump, especially on and to women, there are still some factions in the Republican Party who will continue to support and acknowledge the right of Aspirant Trump to say whatever he feels like; and, would not tolerate any effort by the establishment Republicans to coward or mess with Trump’s candidacy. The far right Republicans uphold a mixed legacy; they are made up of powerful and vote changing supporters who stand by their beliefs, no matter how abhorring those beliefs maybe for the mainstream establishment Republican leadership; they provide a rallying point for opinions and positions that this pressure group considers excluded from party's general discussions and or, radar of party leadership and or mainstream Republicans.
Stripped of the passion and romance of Mr. Trump’s candidacy, the far right Republicans may surround themselves with even more radical position on many political-economic-social issues that are of importance to mainstream Republicans and or, Americans in general. Behind the sound and fury over aspirant Trump’s castigation of women, are other mainstream Republicans’ denial of women’s right to equality. How about Governor Jeb Bush’s blunder, questioning the veracity of the nation spending so much on women’s health as he attempted to attack the organization, Planned Parenthood.
Many Republicans, including some 2016 aspirants, have some weakness of their traditional or higher order, the disdain for women’s right, either on voting issues, equal pay for equal work issue, or right to self-preservation when it comes to the issue of abortion. Each Republican aspirant feels a sense of intense crisis when it comes to women’s right and acknowledgement of their contributions to American life What many progressive Americans consider as backward and decaying in the twenty-first century, are acceptable to many in the far-right Republican camp. For example, each anti-abortion Republican aspirants, Scott Walker or Marco Rubio, even in instances in which the life of a pregnant woman is at stake, believe his position is in order and will arrest the pace of abortion in America. Some Republicans are stagnated in their religious and social beliefs; and, find it difficult to shake away prior conception or imminent convictions about the place of women in American society. As hopeless and embarrassingly weak their argument to undermine equal rights for women, many of them are compromised, disconnected from women’s feelings and would rather subdue the chances of women breaking the glass ceiling than upholding the ethos of decency and equality, no matter what. This is a reality that all Americans must contend with and fight against in order to make this Democracy a much equal, accommodating and reflective one.
The energy that propelled women to winning the voting suffrage nationally in 1920 is comparatively moderate to what is expected to bring about equality of sexes and probably races, in America of the twenty-first century. Women will have to step up to protect their right to recognition and challenge the ever so consistent and repeated bias of the male-dominated American society that continues to hammer on the message of inequality for both sexes. Men who make unfortunate statements to undermine the place of women in modern day discuss, have the onus to prove their superiority over the women in America society; even while some women, on religious basis and habitation of certain states in the union, believe that all that is paramount is being married, pregnant and bear footed, playing the loving and compassionate wife and mother at home!
Men, especially opinion leaders, and politicians, need to be more educated about a world of equality for women and the huge contributions that women make towards the growth and development of society. Like men, women are talented, thought-leaders and proven leaders, if only the men will stand away from their way. Use of denigrating and self-serving comments have always been the strategy to undermine equality of sexes. Many advocates of the woman movement activities will gladly inform you that many of their successes in terms of equality with men, have come at a prize; with women fighting and sometimes imprisoned on the way to freedom from oppression. This is just the honest truth, no matter what some open minded men say about the unfortunate status of inequality.
In the twenty-first century, women revolutionary voices must be persistent, observant and unrelenting in the fight for equality. No more, must women accept the notion they are inferior, pigs, dogs, slobs, disgusting animals when uninformed men and politicians make flippant comments. No more: “You can see blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her whatever”; No more: “ I’m not sure we need half a billion dollars for women’s health issues”; and, No More: “Allegation of fanning the flame of controversy” in a bid to get under or away from the wages of egregious and flippant comments. Just as the women’s suffrage was the cornerstone of women activities’ movement in the 1920’s, so also should the new assertion of self-actualization and freedom from shackles of denigration and or abuse from the male counterparts. Let them know that women are no longer going to roll over and take it any longer; make them pay during the Presidential primaries; make them pay also during the House and Senate primaries!
No comments:
Post a Comment