Oh, it’s a rare and beautiful day where C-SPAN brings you the best, most exciting, pointy, and important speech.
Remember when “The West Wing” president Bartlet launched a line-by-line takedown of Leviticus after a conservative talk show host referred to homosexuality as an “abomination” because that’s what it was called in the Bible? Of course yes.
And now you will remember the day that Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.), speaking from the floor of the House, systematically dismembered Representative Ted Yoho (Florida) for thinking that it is okay to publicly call a woman “f – bitch ”if she’s doing something you don’t want me to do.
I certainly don’t want to contest AOC’s sincerity using the term “Emmy worthy” (and with Emmy nominations just a few days away, I wouldn’t be eligible for this year anyway), but if that scene, and of Made the whole story, if it had been an episode of “Madam Secretary,” “The West Wing,” or even “Scandal,” it would have been an assault on a nod on Tuesday.
In this case, the “something” Yoho did not want the AOC to do was suggest, as it had a few days earlier, that the recent surge in crime in New York City may be due, in part, to unemployment and uncertainty. economic. For the record, this is not a revolutionary idea: there are decades of studies that suggest a strong relationship between poverty and all kinds of crime.
Nor is it extraordinary that many people disagreed with it; The relationship between poverty and crime is a frequent topic of debate, and AOC’s comments, along with recent calls to dismantle police departments, sparked very strong language. White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany called her claims “absurd”; The New York Post editorial board characterized her argument as “dishonest, callous, and naive.”
That is politics for you.
But only Yoho was in charge of confronting her on the steps of the Capitol and in front of the journalists, and calling her disgusting, crazy and dangerous. And then, to one side as she started to walk away, a “bitch.”
After the incident was reported on the hill, Yoho “apologized” for speaking to AOC in such an “abrupt” manner, but denied using that last sentence, claiming that he said “lie” as a description of his policies, because “I had been married for 42 years with two daughters, I know my language very well.” If his comments had been “misunderstood,” he added, he also regretted it.
That is also political, but of a very different kind, which is why the AOC delivered a 10-minute speech on the incident to the House on Thursday.
That is gender policy and it affects all women in the United States, all of whom, as AOC said, have had to deal with those words, or words like them “in some way, some way, some way in some way. moment of our lives. “
Seriously, any woman who’s never had that phrase thrown at her, be it by a colleague, a boss, a boyfriend, a guy behind you in line or just some random guy who didn’t think you left enough room for him when lane change, please stand on your head?
That a congressman uses those words in public is a bit shocking, although given the language our president uses regularly, not to mention all those years of “Veep” and his liberal use of government vulgarity, it may not be as shocking as it should be. .
Neither was AOC’s refusal to leave him standing: you slap him, she hits him back. But her speech was not about slapping, at least not on a personal level. It was not that Yoho did not respect her policy or her title. It was about a woman who refuses to accept words that, as she said, are equivalent to “harassment” and “verbal abuse”.
Words that support a “children’s club” mentality that maintains its dominance over authority in many areas.
“Dehumanizing language is not new,” he said. “This is a pattern of attitude towards women and the dehumanization of others.”
Reportedly, Yoho’s words, not just blasphemy but also “insanity” and “dangerous,” may have been gleaned from a textbook on sexism. Throughout history they have been used to degrade and dismiss half of the humans on Earth. To exclude women from power and debate by insisting that a woman’s beliefs, should they contradict men, do not come from an opposite point of view or a different life experience, but from mental illness and / or or a hateful need to frustrate that man in some way.
You don’t have a different opinion; you’re just being a bitch
Women have been trying to claim that word for years, and in some circumstances, it has managed to shed the weight of history. But in response to essentially political disagreement, it remains a term of complete dismissal and attempted degradation.
That is what AOC could not leave, not the words but the disdain they represent. And she did not stop there; She calmly and methodically informed Yoho, and anyone who was unclear on the matter, that being married to a woman and / or having daughters is not proof that he is impartial.
Hello, Henry VIII married a group of women and had two daughters too.
“I won’t stay up until late at night waiting for an apology from a man who has no regrets for … using abusive language towards women,” said AOC. “But what I do have problems with is the use of women, ‘our wives and daughters’, as shields and excuses for bad behavior.
“Having a daughter does not make a man decent. Having a wife is not a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect is what makes a decent man. And when a decent man is wrong, as we are all required to do, he apologizes. Not to save face. Not to win a vote. He sincerely apologizes for repairing and acknowledging the damage caused, so that we can all move forward. “
Would not it be nice? To think that this powerful statement of the obvious would resolve the matter, remove the insult, and then we could all go ahead and do real work?
Yes, I would. But these days, even a brief, bright moment of clarity and conviction seems pretty good, too.
