Witches of the West
By Geoff Metcalf (01/18/07)
"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it." --Mark Twain
Although outrageous, it is hardly surprising that Senator Barbara Boxer sank to a new low by dinging Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for being a childless woman. If only Boxer’s parents had made the same choice…
Notwithstanding obvious policy and philosophic differences between Boxer and Rice, Boxer’s breathtakingly offensive and tasteless comments to Dr. Rice establish a new low for a party which seems to revel in frothing madness.
Rice is a remarkable individual who regardless of political differences should be recognized as a remarkable individual.
· Rice has worked in high level positions for two presidents
· Rice was a professor at Stanford
· Rice is an accomplished concert pianist
· Rice has been National Security Advisor AND Secretary of State
· Rice was a global expert on Russia
· Rice is accomplished, smart, and classy…three items conspicuously lacking in analysis of Boxer
The New York Post, in a column headlined ‘Boxer’s Low Blow’, wrote: “The junior senator from California apparently believes that an accomplished, seasoned diplomat, a renowned scholar and an adviser to two presidents like Condoleezza Rice is not fully qualified to make policy at the highest levels of the American government because she is a single, childless woman.”
The Post in correct to observed that if a Republican…ANY Republican had dared to utter anything even as marginally offensive as Babs, there would be a main stream media excrement storm of epic proportions.
”The vapidity - the sheer mindlessness - of Sen. Boxer's assertion makes it clear that the next two years are going to be a time of bitterness and rancor, marked by pettiness of spirit and political self-indulgence of a sort not seen in America for a very long time.” Notes the Post.
For her part, Rice said, "I guess that means I don't have kids. Was that the purpose of that?" Rice said. "Well, at the time I just found it a bit confusing frankly. But in retrospect, gee, I thought single women had come further than that. That the only question is are you making good decisions because you have kids?"
You’ve come a long way baby…unless you don’t subscribe to the gospel of the left?
Now all this may suggest fun times for talk radio hosts, bloggers, cable pundits, and al Qaeda, but it is both a sad commentary on the” vapidity” (I like that word) of partisan rancor and the blatant hypocrisy of the new congressional leadership.
In response to the Boxer gaff, White House spokesman Tony Snow said, "I don't know if she was intentionally that tacky, but I do think it's outrageous…Great leap backward for feminism,".
Even the 20/20 clarity of hindsight escaped Boxer. She lacks the insight or class to acknowledge her ‘whoops’. Instead she released a statement through her spokeswoman, saying:
"I spoke the truth at the committee hearing, which is that neither Secretary Rice nor I have family members that will pay the price for this escalation. My point was to focus attention on our military families who continue to sacrifice because this Administration has not developed a political solution to the situation in Iraq."
When Boxer told Rice she didn't believe she was listening to outside perspectives on the war in Iraq maggots were reported to gag. If ever there was a prime example of someone not wanting to be confused with facts or opinion that contradicted THEIR preconceived opinions and prejudices it is Barbara Boxer.
The father of combat veteran helicopter pilot, Thomas Bock, said when he heard about the exchange he thought, "Wow! What a terrible thing to say, that only those people that have family members in the military have a price to pay. This is our freedom, this is our county. And the sooner that we stand up and stand for our country, the sooner we'll be able to bring our troops home."
Boxer’s comments (and her inability to comprehend, much less provide an apology) are way more than reprehensible, and contemptible.
The Family Research Council’s Charmaine Yoest, said, "I think it's offensive to the millions of Americans who don't have a direct relative serving overseas to suggest that somehow they're not connected to the men and women in our military who are putting their lives on the line,"
Despite all the ‘Kumbaya’ rhetoric and stroke, neither left nor right seems either willing or capable of “listening to outside perspectives”. We as a nation seem to be suffering an epidemic of selective hearing loss.
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