The comments made by Lou Dobbs and Co. on his show last week really exhibit the fact that the Republican Party still has a long way to go in supporting women's rights and courting women back over to the conservative side of the isle. The panel was discussing their opinion of the results of a Pew Study that found 4 in 10 American households have women as the primary breadwinners and they were becoming quite animated about it. I think the pragmatic response by the average Joe would be, who really cares who makes the money, right?
But remember, this is a political party that lost the female vote in the 2012 election, thanks to making abortion and rape an election issue (a phenomenon so absurd, it is now cemented in history with its own wiki page), and then being constantly reminded of it thanks to the idiocy of the likes of Akin and Mourdoch, who were not only so profoundly stupid to bring up such a topic while running for federal office during an election year, but lacked the tact to hold their crazy comments in until the elections were over. Being stupid and tactless usually isn't the sound way to obtain public office.
So in the wake of such lunacy, we still haven't wised up. It is June 2013 now, and we still have a bunch of angry, old men complaining about the role of women in our society. Although Dobbs and Erickson were rightfully ripped by fellow Fox Analyst Megyn Kelly almost immediately after, the question remains is, what good is such discussion for anyone? How does this discussion help even the scales of women voters between the Democrats and Republicans?
One problem with the mentality of Dobbs and Erickson, is that it is literally so whacked that it is also a self-fulfilling prophecy. In their eyes, the study shows yet another indicator of the downfall of American society. But what their discussion did was to alienate more female voters and remind those on the fence why not to vote Republican. So, next time we are in for serious election, we will lose the women vote, again and the likes of Dobbs and Erickson, still in their denial, will be waving their hands saying "I told you so!" This is despite the fact that it is a mentality like theirs that is really holding the Republican party back, not such farcical things as women making more money to support their families.
The first thing that came to mind when I saw the segment, was the near-constant struggle of girls and women in Pakistan and Afghanistan to have basic rights. Their rhetoric reminds me of the tribal elders in these countries fuming about young girls getting an education, with others acting upon their vitriol with violent outcomes. While the actions may show how these two groups of men differ, their mentality is the same: bitter, old men who refuse to acknowledge and adapt to the expanding role of women in their societies.
More damning is, I thought we were supposed to be the party of sound business practices? Well, sound businesses adapt to the changes in the market and ones that don't, fail. So right now, we are failing miserably. Time to cut ties with the likes of Dobbs and Erickson if we want to be successful moving forward.
References:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/30/fox-female-breadwinners_n_3358926.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_and_pregnancy_controversies_in_United_States_elections,_2012#Todd_Akin:_.22legitimate_rape.22
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/megyn-kelly-lou-dobbs-erick-erickson-fox-news-92080.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/us/politics/rep-todd-akin-legitimate-rape-statement-and-reaction.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/richard-mourdock-rape-comment-puts-romney-defense/story?id=17552263
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/13/girl-shot-by-taliban-and-her-father-who-founded-girls-school-in-pakistan/
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