Intellectual dishonesty in the debate over public policy comes from both sides of the political spectrum, but the Left is particularly adept at contorting logic and creating double standards. My New Year’s resolution is to start a file of these whoppers. The examples are too numerous to commit to memory.
It should be fun. These are the folks who came up with my all-time favorite fiscal fallacy: a decrease in the projected increase of a program’s budget is actually a cut in spending. Based on that bonehead logic, my next raise will be a blow to my family’s income.
Where the Left draws the line on sexual conduct depends on who’s stepped over it. Wouldn’t you love to ask Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas how serious feminists are about repudiating sexual harassment in the workplace, especially when a powerful man interacts with a female subordinate? The rules and scorn they applied to Thomas somehow weren’t relevant to Bill Clinton. Conservatives don’t understand, liberals huffed. Relationships are complex. Monica was willing. It was private behavior, they lectured, in a stunning display of feminist hypocrisy.
Of all the Left’s sources of intellectual game-playing, none is more reliable than the National Organization for Women. Their web site (www.now.org) rarely disappoints. On a recent visit to this haven for angry women who seem intent on eliminating all pleasure from the earth, the example jumped off the home page.
Picture this. On one side of the screen in bold letters is this headline: NOW Joins Peace Vigil at White House: Calls for Bush Administration to End Cycle of Violence. Opposite the give-peace-a-chance mantra is this call to action, showcased in a box for emphasis: Save Roe Now. Sign the Petition Today.
I laughed out loud. Could the person who designed this page be oblivious to the irony? The most valuable action NOW members could take to “End (the) Cycle of Violence” is to stop championing a law that snuffs out life in the womb.
There is some useful information on the site. I learned that NOW sleeper cells may exist in our neighborhoods, just waiting to act on orders from the national office. Called “feminist fieldanalysts,” these 80-plus teams across the country were recruited by NOW to monitor prime-time broadcast television programs and rate their friendliness to feminist doctrine on gender composition and diversity, violence, sexual exploitation, and social responsibility.
The result, produced by the NOW Foundation, is the 2002 Feminist Primetime Report. To be fair, there is no doubt about excesses on TV. I’ve cringed many times at risqué or graphic content airing well before impressionable kids are asleep. This report, however, is largely a well-worn diatribe of over-reaching complaints against Big Bad Men and the broadcast television industry, which the report characterizes as “lost in an adolescent boy’s fantasyland.” Ultimately, says NOW Foundation President Kim Gandy in the press release announcing the results, “Television remains very much a man’s world, with women serving primarily as ‘eye candy.’”
Even “America’s Most Wanted,” a program responsible for apprehending more than 700 criminals, is a target. As one “analyst” says in a notation highlighted prominently: “Clips before the show and in between cases focus on the victims who are young and attractive and frightened. Emphasis on their beauty and fear seems geared toward attracting male viewers…Excuse for the program is to identify most wanted criminals – but selection of content is questionable.”
Questionable to whom? Only a circus performer could twist logic far enough to believe a program that tries to solve crimes against women has an ulterior motive. Evidently, host John Walsh, a man honored by three presidents and the FBI, is really a sexist pig masquerading as a champion for victims and law enforcement. If he wants to improve his standing with NOW, Walsh needs to find more victims who are middle-aged, homely, and upbeat after being robbed, raped, or conned. Until he does, he’s just one more conspiracy to exploit women.
If you think the NOW gang sounds like a barrel of laughs, let me introduce you to their sour sisters at feminista.com, a link on a NOW page bemoaning the father’s rights movement. The feminista.com entry graphic is a bare-chested woman clutching a shotgun. Can you imagine the outrage if the National Rifle Association used the same image? Nevertheless, it sets the tone perfectly for a new level of intellectual dishonesty in Traci Harris’ feminista.com commentary “Just Ask a Woman.”
Her premise? It’s not men in general who are sexist jerks. These days, she contends, women are oppressed by a new category of creep: feminist men. Men who support and believe in feminist causes are being chastised for being too active in conferences, protest marches, and chat rooms.
Now I get it. According to Harris, a man who doesn’t believe in feminist doctrine oppresses women. A man who does believe in feminist doctrine oppresses women.
Gentlemen, take note. Harris has inadvertently exposed a key difference between feminists and the rest of womankind. The rest of us actually like you.