Mitch McConnell Is a Pantywaist

And so is the rest of the GOP.  All it takes is a woman speaking in a voice of opposition (and quoting another woman, no less), and they get all squiggly and weak in the knees, ready to pee their pants in terror.  Mitch McConnell intones that “She was warned,” and the full majesty of Senate tradition is brought to bear.  Women must not be allowed to speak in such critical voices, even though several men said the same thing without incident.

     That the GOP’s high dudgeon about this violation of Senate tradition is just a mask for fear is evident in the lame remarks offered by GOP leadership.  Lindsey Graham says that silencing Warren is “long overdue” because “she is clearly running for the nomination in 2020.”  Egad!  What greater sin?  Indeed, what more common sin, at least amongst Senators?  I guess fear of a female president will continue to be an important theme in US political culture.  

     Orrin Hatch chastises Warren for not thinking how all this will affect Sessions’ wife.  Surely a wife’s concern for her husband is more important than anything a women might have to say about matters best left to men.  I guess women should be nurturing, caregivers, quiet.

     Marco Rubio, confused as always, sees the whole matter as a lesson in how important it is for the Senate to conserve its ability to conduct debates in a “dignified” manner.  And words like Warren’s threaten to turn the Senate into one of those legislatures “around the world where people throw chairs at each other, and punches.”  Especially when spoken by a woman, I guess.  In any case, dignified debate requires that we not tolerate words like Warren’s from people like Warren.

     None of this is terribly surprising.  The GOP under Bush the Second became accustomed to portraying any opposition as disloyal.  And with a vulgar sexist pig in the White House, the misogynist inclinations of the GOP are bound to become more pronounced.  Together, these factors exercise considerable pressure to restrict women’s influence in political culture.

     And this certainly accords well with the aims of fascism.  Portray the opposition as disloyal,  and, most especially, remove women from the political equation.  Women just aren’t up to supporting the kind of robust and manly (i.e., authoritarian and warmongering) society that the fascist envisions.

     This fear of a female voice is pathetic, sort of like a bunch of adolescent boys who are terrified of girls.  I can’t help but think of how Beavis reacts when Butthead plays a video he doesn’t like.