Speaking of the debates, those on CNN this week certainly produced a few “la-la” moments. One was when Scott Spradling asked some of the GOP candidates, beginning with Tommy Thompson, “…how would you use George W. Bush in your administration?” Only in a fantasy world can I imagine George W. Bush wanting to be anywhere other than on his ranch in Crawford Texas after 2008. Of course, in Liberal La-La Land, George Bush will be sitting in jail by then, so either way it seems to me to be a moot point.
Last, but not least, certainly in the real world I would not have heard the replacement for Don Imus in MSNBC’s morning time slot get away with asking guest Craig Crawford if the beautiful, young wife of soon-to-be-official GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson “works the pole.” In spite of the reference to what is commonly referred to as a stripper pole, it appears that Joe Scarborough was not insinuating that Mrs. Thompson took off her clothes and danced for money. Earlier in the program he had a segment about women who used pole dancing as exercise. Even though he was really only making a tacky comment about her appearance, it seemed a little bit strange that there was not an outcry from feminist groups protesting his comment on the grounds that it objectified women. Instead the biggest outcry came from some on the right who wanted Scarborough to apologize for the tasteless comment.
It is not so out of the ordinary to see those on the left ignore sexist, and even potentially criminal sexual conduct, when committed by one of their own. Anyone questioning that need only look to the Bill Clinton example. It is more unusual to see Republicans get a pass. The lesson I took away from this incident is that it is possible to get away with talking about the appearance of a Republican candidate’s wife without too much uproar from the left, even if you are a Republican. (Scarborough is still officially a Republican isn’t he?) I don’t know whether or not the same treatment would be given to a Republican talking about the appearance of a Democrat candidate’s wife, but unfortunately I have a feeling we might just find out sometime between now and November 2008.
In this trip through la-la land I have gone from Paris Hilton and prison bars to references to stripper poles. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t such a long trip after all.