National Organization for W______
[Guest post by Aaron Worthing]
Now first, I have to say that “Whoregate” itself—that is the “scandal” in which one of Jerry Brown’s staffers was caught in a recording calling Meg Whitman a whore—never really upset me. I thought it was a tempest in a tea pot.
But the extended reaction to it, however, is at least interesting viewing. Previously California Attorney General Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown demonstrated that he doesn’t know much about the statutes he himself enforces. But for true comedy you can’t beat the National Organization for Women, or NOW, the alleged vanguard of the feminist movement.
I mean just follow this post at the Sacremento Bee’s blog. First, in the original, un-updated post, we have this statement from Terry O’Neill, President of NOW:
“While our California chapter’s Political Action Committee voted to endorse Brown on the basis of his support for women’s rights, the National Organization for Women clearly and unequivocally condemns calling Meg Whitman, or any woman, a whore,” O’Neill said. “This term is hate speech that carries with it negative connotations associated with women, and it has no place in contemporary society.
“NOW calls on Brown to fire any member of his staff who uses this word or any hate speech against women,” O’Neill said.
But then later I guess it occurred to O’Neill that, gee, this might require Brown to fire someone who might be useful to his campaign. So in an update to the blog post, we get this:
Minutes after we posted our riff on the National Organization for Women prez calling out the Jerry Brown campaign for its use of the word “whore” we received an, ahem, “clarification” from national NOW prez Terry O’Neill on what she said she “should have said” on the matter….
“We are not saying anyone on the Brown campaign be fired,” O’Neill said. “What I should have made clear was that anyone who says the ‘W’ word from here on should be fired. What happened last week was a teachable moment for all of us. We can all agree that the word is offensive and should be retired.”
Teachable moment? Ack, I just puked in my mouth a little. Can we stop using that phrase, please?
But that makes perfect sense to let that one go. You know, because no one ever in the history of humanity ever heard it claimed that it was offensive to call a woman a whore before. Or maybe the idea is that every political campaign gets one free punch?
By the way, on the NOW website, they noted that Alan Grayson (D-vil) “called Linda Robertson, an adviser to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, a ‘K Street whore[.]’” And guess who they are endorsing in the race between the Devil and Daniel Webster? Yep, Grayson. So I guess they don’t want him fired, either.
Meanwhile, California’s NOW President told TPM said that “Meg Whitman could be described as ‘a political whore.’ Yes, that’s an accurate statement.”
So I guess her thought is that you can call a woman a whore if you mean she is a political one. Hey, I think I know how to fill in the blank in the title of this post, now.
[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]
I guess there’s no penalty for being a Democrat Whore, is there.
PCD (1d8b6d) — 10/18/2010 @ 12:06 pmI found out early on what happens when one calls a girl a whore. I was on the school bus coming home from junior high school. I don’t remember what precipitated my calling her a whore, but she unleashed a flurry of smacks, scratches, and slaps for which I was clearly unprepared. At the end I resembled Wile E. Coyote with a “*!$@#” thought bubble over his head.
norcal (6727d1) — 10/18/2010 @ 12:24 pmJerry couldn’t fire that staffer anyway, as it is alleged that it is the most senior of his advisors:
AD-RtR/OS! (56f7fd) — 10/18/2010 @ 12:26 pmHis Wife!
Looks like NOW is pretty much a whore. I mean, they seem to be pretty much bought-an-paid for.
Brass (39cca6) — 10/18/2010 @ 12:39 pm“Teachable moment? Ack, I just puked in my mouth a little. Can we stop using that phrase, please?”
No. “We” can’t. In the first place the Political Left can’t abandon that kind of gobbledygook because then they would have to fall back on the actual English language …. and they don’t know it. In the second place, if they stopped talking double-talk their heads would explode.
C. S. P. Schofield (e4bd33) — 10/18/2010 @ 1:18 pmThis is obviously akin to NOW’s “one free grope” policy, which was enacted during the Clinton presidency.
Calvin Dodge (c24b9e) — 10/18/2010 @ 1:49 pmCalvin
One grope? That ain’t how my count came out…
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 10/18/2010 @ 1:50 pmCalvin, you beat me to it. Things are always ok the first time for the Dems, not so much for Repubs.
PatAZ (9d1bb3) — 10/18/2010 @ 1:52 pmNice work, Aaron.
Brown isn’t the only one in his office with a lack of legal knowledge regarding phone recordings.
A spokesman for Attorney General Jerry Brown acknowledged Thursday that he taped a phone conversation with a reporter for The Chronicle this week without disclosing the fact or asking permission – and admitted he has taped conversations with other news reporters.
Scott Gerber, spokesman for Brown’s office, made the admission after the publication of a story in the newspaper that detailed consumer activist Harvey Rosenfield’s criticisms of revisions the attorney general made to the summary of a ballot measure that deals with car insurance rates.
California Penal Code Section 632 prohibits the recording of private telephone conversations without consent, and the state is one of 12 states that require notification of all parties prior to taping.
Jim Humes, chief deputy attorney general, said in a statement to The Chronicle Thursday: “In the future, Mr. Gerber will not tape any conversation unless all parties agree.” He added that Gerber has recorded “a few other conversations” with reporters and will contact them.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (a18ddc) — 10/18/2010 @ 2:02 pmMore on NOW’s use of the English language:
is a weaselly verb use. It wasn’t ever the case that they “said” someone be fired (and what would that mean?); instead, it was the case that they “called on” someone to fire someone:
I mean, I guess you could run around all day long saying, “I say he be fired,” but . . . what would that mean? To RETRACT the original calling-on, the retraction needed to be:
To CLARIFY the original calling-on, the clarification needed to start out with:
Either of those would mean more popcorn for us.
m (850993) — 10/18/2010 @ 2:10 pmAaron, this is your tenth straight post. Is everyone else on vacation now?
Steven Den Beste (99cfa1) — 10/18/2010 @ 2:12 pmWhat if she doesn’t get paid? Does that make her a “political slut”?
mojo (8096f2) — 10/18/2010 @ 2:26 pmIt is like playing a mulligan on every bad stroke!
When can I get that set of rules applied to me?
javert (a8a9b2) — 10/18/2010 @ 2:38 pmAnd “hole” in this case is not a pejorative in spite of racist, misogynist, self loathing, misanthrope ways.
javert (a8a9b2) — 10/18/2010 @ 2:39 pmAnd let me say, to borrow an O’Donnell …. I am a whore, I am you.
javert (a8a9b2) — 10/18/2010 @ 2:41 pmWhat NOW *meant* to say was that it is legitimate to say that one can legitimately call Whitman a “cheap ho………..tel” since, per NOW, one can rent Whitman by the hour …
Amazing how NOW doesn’t seem to feel that about Dem pols …
Alasdair (0b968c) — 10/18/2010 @ 3:23 pm#15 – who’re you calling a javert ?
Alasdair (0b968c) — 10/18/2010 @ 3:24 pmWow. Clinton gives us one free grope, and now Moonbeam gives us one free ‘whore’ calling. Wow. I wonder what the dims have in store for us next??? It certainly looks like it’s going all downhill from here.
TimothyJ (5a11f5) — 10/18/2010 @ 3:30 pmThey are not the National Organization of Women. They are the National Organization of Lesbians. What they really want is new batteries for their strap-ons.
nk (db4a41) — 10/18/2010 @ 3:31 pm#19
ouch
I’ve been keeping my distance
SteveG (cc5dc9) — 10/18/2010 @ 3:38 pmWhy did Imus get fired for calling a womens’ basketball team a bunch of nappy headed hos? Was it the nappy headed or the hos comment? Is calling woman a whore in California a hate crime?
Maybe someone should contact the state’s AG about that one.
Corky Boyd (d787be) — 10/18/2010 @ 3:46 pmReminiscent of the Clinton “one free grope” exception for on-the-job sexual harassment.
Socratease (5c1dd6) — 10/18/2010 @ 4:39 pm#20 “Ouch” because it is true or “Ouch” b/c the thought of lesbians running around with straps-ons causes fear of physical violence?
javert (a8a9b2) — 10/18/2010 @ 4:41 pmWell whatever, just as the “You people” thing (allegedly) left room for a pass too…(SF Chron 2006):
http://articles.sfgate.com/2006-03-08/bay-area/17284053_1_camera-phone-cell-phone-police-brutality
…all this from a 67 year old A.G. candidate…
Andrew (fa9964) — 10/18/2010 @ 5:01 pmthat’s such a great word
happyfeet (42fd61) — 10/18/2010 @ 5:36 pmI personally suspect that NOW walked it back because the chatter is that it was Brown’s wife, Anne Gust who made the ‘whore’ comment. Exactly how is he to fire his own wife, hm? So best to be practical about this and “explain what should have been said”…
Which then ironically begs the delightful question:
If a woman refers to another woman as a whore, is that sexism or just a bitch slap?
Dana (8ba2fb) — 10/18/2010 @ 5:52 pmMeanwhile, California’s NOW President told TPM said that “Meg Whitman could be described as ‘a political whore.’ Yes, that’s an accurate statement.”
If NOW is using the descriptor of “whore”, what’s the problem? Isn’t that the equality these old bats have clawing to get all along? Jerry is a political whore and Meg is a political whore – equality across the board. Finally.
…which just goes to show that NOW has finally become – thankfully and mercifully – an utterly and completely irrelevant and unnecessary organization.
Dana (8ba2fb) — 10/18/2010 @ 6:03 pmGreetings:
Re: Teachable Moment
When I first came across this expression, it seemed to mean an occasion when a student or subordinate was ready, able, and willing to receive information from a teacher or superior. In such a situation, the information exchange would occur with a high degree of likely success. In now seems to have morphed into a situation wherein the teacher/superior feels the need to transmit the information to the student/subordinate. This may be a very subtle point to people who have never dealt with children or teenagers, or to people who still think like children or teenagers.
But, it is an important point.
Re: Whore
So, now that I’m officially proscribed from calling even a whore a whore, that whole islam is a religion of peace thingy doesn’t seem so bad.
11B40 (f86b77) — 10/18/2010 @ 6:21 pmYou detract from your message when you use phrases like “I just puked in my mouth”…even if it is just a little.
m (e351a4) — 10/18/2010 @ 7:05 pm#28 I thought I was about to get a free beer… then some angry lesbian with a strap on showed up… so I did what any red blooded American man would do…. check the ammo in the shot gun
SteveG (cc5dc9) — 10/18/2010 @ 7:09 pmSteveG – would a genuinely secure man, in such circumstances, not just have compared equipment ?
Tools, that is …
Power tools …
(What else did you think I meant ?)
Alasdair (205079) — 10/18/2010 @ 8:38 pm_________________________________
If most women in America suddenly became truly socio-politically centrist to conservative, a lot of the NOW crowd would begin to shout: “Get back to the kitchen, you sluts, and shut your mouths!!! In retrospect, women’s liberation was a big, fat mistake!!!”
Mark (411533) — 10/18/2010 @ 10:19 pmMark #32 – and just what do you think is actually happening, with more and more women, right now, during this period in US history ? (grin)
Of course NOW are in panic mode …
Alasdair (e7cb73) — 10/19/2010 @ 4:09 pm