Are These 'Republican Vixens' Mocking Conservative Morality?
South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace was in Washington telling a story about how her "fiance" wanted more action in bed earlier that day. "And I was like, 'No baby, we don't got time for that this morning.'" To which she added, "He can wait. I'll see him later tonight."
The occasion was a Christian prayer breakfast attended by evangelicals.
Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert famously vaped in a theater and grabbed her date's privates. When called out for her offensive conduct, she blamed a "difficult divorce." Meanwhile, self-described "Christian nationalist" Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene showers the House floor with profanities.
I honestly don't care who Nancy Mace shacks up with. But it is fascinating to hear her refer to the guy in her bed as a "fiance" as opposed to some random dude. Makes her adultery sound like almost-marriage.
What are these right-wing vixens up to? For starters, they're advertising their sexual availability. (Tinder never closes.) And as members of Congress, their forays into exhibitionism provide visibility and opportunities to raise money.
These ladies evidently think that they can get away with dishing this coarseness in public while posing as defenders of old-school morality. You sometimes wonder whether they are mocking social conservatives.
Some evangelicals are quite unhappy about this. They are joined by others who simply want more dignity in the political culture.
The road to right-wing vulgarity was paved with hypocrisy. Some of the credit goes to Bill Bennett, who long ago perfected the art of unprincipled rectitude. Former education secretary under Ronald Reagan, Bennett has long peddled a highly elastic moral code — depends on which party benefits — while maintaining a face frozen in pious judgment.
In his 1998 book, The Death of Outrage: Bill Clinton and the Assault on American Ideals, Bennett piled moral censure on Clinton over his tryst with a White House intern. And he went after Democrats for not sharing his indignation.
The first chapter, simply titled "Sex," pounded the pulpit. "In extramarital affairs," Bennett wrote, "there are victims. In marriage, one person has been entrusted with the soul of another." If true, that's bad news for Melania.
Years later, a Fox News interviewer asked Bennett how a man claiming fixed moral views on adultery could support Donald Trump. As the world knows, the former president cheated on his pregnant wife with a porn star and bragged about grabbing women by their genitals.
"I understand how you feel about some of the things," Bennett responded, miraculously keeping a straight face. "But it may be better to lower your standards on things the guy says temporarily than to lose your country permanently."
Ah, so he's using the "fiance" gambit. Branding Trump's lewd talk as "temporary" make it an almost-character flaw. As for the "lose your country" part, that sounds a bit dated considering how close Trump got us to losing our democracy.
"Sexual indiscipline can be a threat to the stability of crucial human affairs," Bennett wrote in reference to Clinton. Would someone kindly translate?
Urging voters to look past Trump's licentious record, Bennett argued, "Think about the economy." Years earlier, he rapped the knuckles of Clinton defenders for allegedly contending that "what matters above all is a healthy economy." Actually, the economy was a lot better under Clinton, and the budget was balanced, too.
Look, Bennett has a First Amendment right to make money off hypocrisy. And let the record show, I too disapprove of adultery. But I also regarded Clinton's misconduct as a private matter to be worked out between a couple and the third party. And I extend that courtesy to Trump, Melania and Stormy Daniels.
Uncomfortable as it may sometimes be, consistency is a good thing.
Reprinted with permission from Alternet.
Boehner Says He Wasn’t Mocking GOP Colleagues On Immigration
By Lisa Mascaro and Michael A. Memoli, Tribune Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner on Tuesday downplayed his recent criticism of reluctant GOP lawmakers as nothing but ribbing among friends, though he privately told House Republicans that he would still like to consider immigration reform this year.
Boehner came under fire from conservative Republicans for a speech he made in Cincinnati last week when he mocked colleagues with an exaggerated whining tone for complaining that the politics of immigration overhaul were “too hard.”
“You only tease the ones you love,” Boehner told reporters after the closed meeting at Republican Party headquarters Tuesday.
Lawmakers tended to take the speaker’s criticism in stride, but “some members were offended,” said Rep. John Fleming, R-La.
Boehner appeared to win over lawmakers, though, when he insisted “there’s no secret conspiracy to have comprehensive immigration reform pass,” Fleming said.
But the speaker did not rule out taking up immigration bills this year.
“We’re going to continue to work with our members and to have discussions and to see if there’s a way forward,” Boehner said.
Attention on the House has intensified as the window for passing legislation narrows with the coming November election. A year after the Senate passed the most comprehensive immigration overhaul in a generation, the House has yet to act.
Republicans have argued that they cannot consider immigration reform because they do not trust that President Barack Obama will enforce whatever laws they may pass — arguments Boehner reiterated Tuesday.
But the GOP’s reluctance has prompted the White House to consider using executive powers to make changes in immigration policy if Congress fails to act.
Advocates for immigration reform have continued to pressure the House — and the administration — to halt deportations. Protests outside the White House led to several arrests this week. More than 250 evangelical leaders rallied Tuesday morning outside the Capitol.
“We’re trying to line up the votes,” said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, a leading GOP advocate of immigration overhaul. “Every day we’re getting more and more.”
AFP Photo/Jim Watson