Is This Nation Still In Junior High?

This is madness. What the hell are we becoming? In many walks of life, and in all parts of the world, women are frequently treated abominably. The regularity of gang-rape in India, the violence towards women in certain African nations, these and many other instances are abominations every sane, balanced, individual – whether male or female – should abhor.

But this…this is madness:

“…she is brilliant and she is dedicated and she is tough, and she is exactly what you’d want in anybody who is administering the law and making sure that everybody is getting a fair shake”.

“She also happens to be by far the best-looking attorney general in the country… It’s true. Come on. And she is a great friend and has just been a great supporter for many, many years.”

President Barack Obama is not a favorite at Sparrow Chat. He has, in our opinion, failed miserably to lead this nation where it needs to go. He has many faults. Sexism is not one of them.

The remarks quoted above were made at a fundraising meeting. According to the BBC:

Critics have cited the remark as an example of the ongoing hurdles women face in the workplace…writers and bloggers have commented that although the president is a personal friend of Ms Harris and a strong supporter of women’s rights, his remarks were inappropriate.”^[1]

Well, just for the record, here’s one blogger who believes his remarks were not the least bit inappropriate. Have we truly reached the point in our self-civilizing where we can no longer value true beauty – rather than the pimped-up, photo-shopped, caricatures splattered all too readily over the magazine racks in Walmart and similar two-bit stores – whether that beauty be female or male?

Kamala Harris, California’s attorney general, about whom Obama’s remarks were addressed, is a good-looking woman. I doubt many, whether male or female, would argue with that.

The one thing the US president most certainly didn’t imply was that her career success was, in any way, due to it.

Thankfully, there are a few in the media prepared to stand up and state the obvious. Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post is one:

…he [Obama] has been bludgeoned into apologizing to California state attorney general Kamala Harris for saying, ”She’s brilliant and she’s dedicated, she’s tough… She also happens to be, by far, the best looking attorney general.” Umm, has everyone gone stark raving mad? We are told his remarks to Harris revive talk about the “old boys club.” Really, among whom? Outside thin-skinned columnists and incessantly nasty twerps, who cares?”^[2]

Who cares? Obviously a great many people. It’s just a pity they’ve nothing better to concern themselves about. Only a few weeks ago a young Indian woman suffered a horrendous gang-rape which resulted in her untimely death. While it was widely reported in the US media, the “thin-skinned columnists and incessantly nasty twerps” were far less vociferous about that than this off-handed compliment from the president of the United States to a close friend of his family.

Isn’t it time you grew up, America? Your immaturity has truly become an embarrassment to the rest of the world.

^{[1] “Obama sorry over Kamala Harris ‘good-looking’ comment” BBC, April 5th 2013}

^{[2] “It’s the media that should apologize” Washington Post, April 5th 2013}