At first I thought I’d let the latest right-wing sleazefest slide, but the more I thought about the new anti-Hillary 527 organization founded by Roger Stone—a former Watergate “dirty trickster” and one of the nastiest little creeps on the scene—I realized that it really deserves examination.
First you need to read about it here. Then you need to contemplate for a few moments the “art” this stoneless Roger is offering up on T-Shirts, supposedly promoting his organization:
If you just don’t “get” this misogynistic humor, consider yourself lucky and simply skip this post. If you do get it, try this thought experiment.
Let’s say that you don’t object to this dimwit’s tactic. That is, let’s assume that gender-hatred is your cup of meat (pace Bob Dylan). Then assume that you’re a sleazeball left-winger who wants to emulate Stone’s approach. What word could you acronymize to attack, in a similar way, one of the Republican presidential candidates?
In other words: What is the male equivalent of Slime Stone’s epithet for Hillary?
The answer, of course, is that there isn’t one. Stone’s uninspired exercise in gutter politics can’t be used on a man. And it looks as if the wingnut Right is relishing the prospect of exploiting that cultural advantage.
Remember when a Republican in Iowa—a woman, for cryin’ out loud!—asked John McCain: “How are we going to beat the Bitch?” To his credit, McCain blanched; but to his shame, he then released one of his trademark chipmunk-cheeked chuckles and went on to speak as if the woman’s question were not offensive. The point is that the moronic Roger Stone has erected his puerile campaign on a solid foundation of misogyny.
But what’s truly dispiriting is that the Right has no monopoly on this attitude. If Ms. Clinton does, in fact, achieve the nomination, we can expect this kind of sleaze—and the corrosive silence that surrounds it—to make a Democratic victory dicey at best.
Now, I’m neither a Hillary nor an Obama supporter: Edwards is my candidate. But I would vote for Clinton or Obama over any of the limp-minded Republicans in the race. If the nominee turns out to be Hillary, though, liberal-minded people need to be ready to speak out loudly and without pause against the hate-mongering we are certain to see from the Right. My advice is to be prepared with a response to cries of “Political Correctness!” These scumbags have had a free ride on that nag for far too long.
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A Little Roger Stone Photo Gallery
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Note that Mr. Stone appears computer generated, or at least molded in plasticene. What do you mean you’re not surprised?
The plasticene Stone (note the depthless button eyes) with his hero, Tricky Dick.