Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The Gentleman from Wisconsin

Jim Wallis of Sojourners has called for a more civil political discourse, but I haven't heard much from him on the topic recently. Perhaps that's because almost all of the most egregious examples of incivility are being tendered by his progressive friends. Here, for example, is a story out of Wisconsin that recounts the ungentle, and ungentlemanly, behavior of one Democrat assemblyman toward a female conservative colleague:
"You're f****** dead". Nice. The guy probably lacked the courage to threaten another male this way so he showed off his manliness by threatening a woman. Pretty gutless, but of course I'm speculating.

Thanks to Hot Air for the video.

I know I say this all the time, but I can't help it. Just imagine the tempest there'd be in the media if a tea-partier had said this to a Democrat, especially a Democrat woman. It'd be on every news talk show, Chris Matthews and Lawrence O'Donnell would be apoplectic at MSNBC, and the New York Times, in righteous dudgeon, would be publishing scathing editorials on the awful rhetoric emanting from the right. Women's groups would be outraged at the misogynistic, abusive language directed against a woman.

But, it was a Democrat who was spewing the vulgar, violent, misogynistic hate, so the media just yawn and women's groups look the other way. Maybe they have a different standard for Democrats. Do you think?