Republicans still can't decide whether there is a War on Caterpillars Women, or whether President Obama started it, or whether it's a fictional invention of the media or the Democrats, or whether it's a Democratic War on Women Ann Romney.
This week, Michele Bachmann said, "There is no war on women. There's never been a war on women." Which is either on or off message, depending on the day. For example, Sen. John McCain on Meet the Press, March 20, 2012:
GREGORY: Do you think that there is something of a war on women among Republicans?But this week, during a Senate debate on reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, McCain flip-flopped on the problem he'd previously acknowledged. He took to the floor to make his case while his party launched an unprecedented opposition because they don't like the part where it includes protection for immigrants, lesbians and Native American women. Or, as Melissa McEwan (aka Shakespeare's Sister) brilliantly described it, "Protect the sanctity of traditional domestic violence!"McCAIN: I think we have to fix that. I think that there is a perception out there because of how this whole contraception issue played out ' ah, we need to get off of that issue, in my view.
While McCain ultimately voted to reauthorize the act, he first had to spend more than 10 minutes explaining why women are perfectly equal already and, just as his fellow Republican Bachmann claimed, the War on Women is mere fiction:
My friends, this supposed 'War on Women' or the use of similarly outlandish rhetoric by partisan operatives has two purposes, and both are political in their purpose and effect. The first, purely political; the first is to distract citizens from real issues that really matter, and the second is to give talking heads something to sputter about when they appear on cable television. Neither purpose does anything to advance the well being of any American. [...]Apparently, Mitt Romney's flip-flopping is contagious, and John McCain has a bad case of it.To suggest that one group of us or one party speaks for all women or that one group has an agenda to harm women and another to help them is ridiculous if for no other reason than it assumes a unity of interests, beliefs, concerns, experiences and ambition among all women that doesn't exist among men or among any race or class. [...]
Thankfully, I believe men and women of our country are smart enough to recognize that when a politician or political party resorts to dividing us in the name of bringing us together, it usually means that they're either out of ideas or short on resolve to address the challenges of our time. At this time in our nation's history, we face an abundance of hard choices. The vicious slogans and the declaring of phony wars are intended to avoid those hard choices and to escape paying a political price for doing so. [...]
Leaving these problems unaddressed indefinitely and resorting to provoking greater divisions among us at a time when we most need unity might not be a war against this or that group of Americans, but it is surely a surrender: a surrender of our responsibilities to the country and a surrender of decency.
As I previously wrote, and as readers of this series well know, Republicans can deny it all they want, but there is a War on Women. It's real, and it's dangerous, and it's not about zingers and slogans:
It's about a constant legislative assault by the Republican Party, at the state and federal level, on women's equality and basic rights, from health care to equal pay to funding programs to combat violence against women. Women aren't stupid, even if Republicans, like Herman Cain, insist that "men are much more familiar with the failed policies than a lot of other people."Despite the best efforts of the 31 Republicans (yes, all men) who voted against it, the Senate passed the not-watered-down Violence Against Women Act. Next stop is the House, so tell your representatives to pass the Violence Against Women Act.
This week's good, bad and ugly below the fold.
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