Dems to Women: Why Can’t You Take a Joke?

March 20, 2012

Obama Officials Defend the Comedic Value of Misogyny in a Desperate Effort to Cling to Their Donations from Misogynists

Democrats have a problem with women, and their public comments are only making it worse. Obama advisor David Axelrod recently doubled down on the Obama administration’s suggestion that misogynist comments from Obama supporter Bill Maher are somehow less offensive because Maher attempts to be a “comedian.”
Obama officials have seemed reluctant to dissociate themselves from misogyny, with the president’s Super PAC refusing to return a $1 million donation from Maher. Forced to choose between taking a stand against misogynist insults and donations from a prominent misogynist, the Obama team is making clear that they find sexism less offensive when they need sexists’ money.
Sadly, this is just the latest evidence of the Obama administration’s problem with women. A book out last year documented concerns by women in the White House that the Obama administration had created a hostile work environment for women.

Democrats have a problem with women, and their public comments are only making it worse. Obama advisor David Axelrod recently doubled down on the Obama administration’s suggestion that misogynist comments from Obama supporter Bill Maher are somehow less offensive because Maher attempts to be a “comedian”:

“OBAMA LOSING GROUND AMONG WOMEN FROM HIS 2008 VOTE SHARE”: “Despite a significant outreach effort to female voters and Democratic accusations of a GOP ‘war on women,’ a new Bloomberg poll shows Obama losing ground among women from his 2008 vote share.” (Byron Tau, “Poll: Obama Down Among Female Voters from 2008 Results,” Politico, 3/14/2012)

NEW POLL: 57% OF WOMEN BELIEVE OBAMACARE WILL INCREASE HEALTHCARE COSTS, ONLY 7% SAY IT WILL LOWER COSTS: (“Women’s Views on the Affordable Care Act,” YG Network, 3/20/2012)

WOMEN SUPPORT REPEALING AND REPLACING OBAMACARE BY MARGIN OF 52% TO 37%: (“Women’s Views on the Affordable Care Act,” YG Network, 3/20/2012)

TOP OBAMA ADVISOR DAVID AXELROD: MAHER’S MISOGYNIST COMMENTS ARE ” A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT” SINCE HE HAS A “STANDUP ACT”…HA HA?: “But– understand that these words that– Maher has used in his standup act— are a little bit different than— not excusable in any way– but– different than a guy– with 23 million radio listeners using his broad– cast platform to malign a young woman for speaking– her mind in the most– in the most inappropriate grotesque— ways. And– and nor does Bill Maher play the role in the– in the– in the– Democratic party that Rush Limbaugh plays in the Republican party, where he’s really the de facto boss of the party. Everybody responds to him…” (Maggie Haberman, “Axelrod: Maher and Limbaugh Are Not the Same,” Politico, 3/15/2012)

SO WE TAKE IT THAT AXELROD DOESN’T FIND MAHER’S OFFENSIVE COMMENTS “GROTESQUE” OR “INAPPROPRIATE”:

MAHER “THE GRAND POOH-BAH OF MEDIA MISOGYNY”: “But the grand pooh-bah of media misogyny is without a doubt Bill Maher” (Kirsten Powers, “Rush Limbaugh Isn’t the Only Media Misogynist,” The Daily Beast, 3/4/2012)

MAHER SAID FORMER ALASKA GOV. SARAH PALIN WAS A “DUMB [EXPLETIVE],” USED THE “C-WORD” IN DESCRIBING HER: (Kirsten Powers, “Rush Limbaugh Isn’t the Only Media Misogynist,” The Daily Beast, 3/4/2012)

CALLED PALIN AND REP. MICHELE BACHMANN “BOOBS” AND “TWO BIMBOS”: (Kirsten Powers, “Rush Limbaugh Isn’t the Only Media Misogynist,” The Daily Beast, 3/4/2012)

JOKED ABOUT FORMER SEN. RICK SANTORUM’S WIFE USING A “VIBRATOR”: (Kirsten Powers, “Rush Limbaugh Isn’t the Only Media Misogynist,” The Daily Beast, 3/4/2012)

JOKED THAT A BREASTFEEDING MOTHER WAS TRYING TO FLASH HIM:(Kirsten Powers, “Rush Limbaugh Isn’t the Only Media Misogynist,” The Daily Beast, 3/4/2012)

MAHER-ISMS: “And by the way, there is a place where breasts and food do go together. It’s called Hooters!” (Kirsten Powers, “Rush Limbaugh Isn’t the Only Media Misogynist,” The Daily Beast, 3/4/2012)

Obama officials have seemed reluctant to dissociate themselves from misogyny, with the president’s Super PAC refusing to return a $1 million donation from Maher. Forced to choose between taking a stand against misogynist insult and donations from a prominent misogynist, the Obama team is making clear that they find sexism less offensive when they need sexists’ money:

BILL MAHER CONTRIBUTED HALF OF ALL OBAMA’S SUPER PAC FUNDRAISING IN FEBRUARY: “Priorities USA Action, a super PAC raising unlimited money to aid President Obama’s campaign, collected $2 million in February, following Obama’s reversal last month of his opposition to outside groups. Half of the money came from television host Bill Maher.” (Fredreka Schouten, “Pro-Obama Super PAC Collects $2 Million,” USA Today, 3/13/2012)

PRIORITIES USA SUPER PAC HEADED BY OBAMA BOYS’ CLUB MEMBER BILL BURTON: (Jeff Poor, “Obama Super PAC Chief: Equating Rush Limbaugh with Bill Maher ‘Is Crazy’,” The Daily Caller, 3/8/2012)

BURTON ON MISOGYNY: IT’S NOT OFFENSIVE, IT’S “COMEDY”: ” ‘There’s no just similarity about what Rush Limbaugh said, lying about the argument that Miss Fluke was making — a law student at Georgetown — and what a comedian has said in the past.'” (Jeff Poor, “Obama Super PAC Chief: Equating Rush Limbaugh with Bill Maher ‘Is Crazy’,” The Daily Caller, 3/8/2012)

BUT DEMS WON’T RETURN THE MAHER DONATION BECAUSE THEY NEED THE MONEY: “The top Democratic super PAC is still having trouble raising money, despite getting President Obama’s blessing.” (Aaron Blake, “Even With Obama’s Blessing, Top Dem Super PAC Finds Tough Sledding,” The Washington Post, 3/13/2012)

HYPOCRISY: OBAMA CITED HIS DAUGHTERS IN RESPONSE JUST OVER A WEEK AGO IN CRITICIZING SEXIST COMMENTS IN PUBLIC DISCOURSE:“President Obama today said that thinking about his own two daughters compelled him to call the Georgetown Law School student derided as a ‘slut’ and a ‘prostitute’ by conservative talk radio giant Rush Limbaugh. … ‘I thought about Malia and Sasha,’ the president told reporters today of his decision to call Fluke last week to offer his personal support. ‘One of the things I want them to do as they get older is to engage in issues they care about, even ones I may not agree with them on.'” (Mary Bruce, “Obama Cites Daughters in Response to Limbaugh,” ABC News, 3/6/2012)

Sadly, this is just the latest evidence of the Obama administration’s problem with women. A book out last year documented concerns by women in the White House that the Obama administration had created a hostile work environment for women:

OBAMA BUMPED FIRST WOMAN EDITOR OF NEW YORK TIMES JILL ABRAMSON FOR BARNARD COMMENCEMENT SPEECH: (Dylan Byers, “Obama Bumps Jill Abramson at Barnard,” Politico, 3/3/2012)

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN ON OBAMA DECISION TO BUMP ABRAMSON: “THIS IS POSITIVELY RUDE”: “Of course Abramson can’t criticize this – so I will for her and for other women.

This is positively rude. I think less of Barnard for ‘trading up’ and of the President for ‘big footing.’ He could easily find another college to speak at (I bet he has dozens of open invitations) and Barnard ? Well…I would be embarrassed to be part of Barnard.” (Greta Van Susteren, “No Manners? New York Times Editor Jill Abramson Gets ‘Big Footed’ By President Obama and Barnard ‘Trades Up,'”Greta Wire, 3/3/2012)

FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR ANITA DUNN: OBAMA WH “WOULD BE IN COURT FOR A HOSTILE WORKPLACE”: ” ‘This place would be in court for a hostile workplace,’ former White House communications director Anita Dunn is quoted as saying. ‘Because it actually fit all of the classic legal requirements for a genuinely hostile workplace to women.'” (Nia Malika-Henderson and Peter Wallsten, “Book: Women in Obama White House Felt Excluded, Ignored,” The Washington Post, 9/16/2011)

OBAMA OFFICIAL: PRESIDENT “HAS A REAL WOMAN PROBLEM,” “JUST AS RESPONSIBLE” FOR CREATING ANTI-WOMAN ENVIRONMENT AS HIS STAFF: ” ‘The president has a real woman problem,’ an unnamed high-ranking female official told Suskind. ‘The idea of the boys’ club being just Larry and Rahm isn’t really fair. He [Obama] was just as responsible himself.'” (Nia Malika-Henderson and Peter Wallsten, “Book: Women in Obama White House Felt Excluded, Ignored,” The Washington Post, 9/16/2011)

FORMER TOP WH ECONOMIST CHRISTINA ROMER: “I FELT LIKE A PIECE OF MEAT”: “Christina Romer, former head of the Council of Economic Advisers, said of one meeting where she’d been shut down by Summers, ‘I felt like a piece of meat.'” (David A. Graham, “9 Juicy Bits from Ron Suskind’s Book,” The Daily Beast, 9/19/2011)

TOP FEMALE STAFFERS “FELT FROZEN OUT”: (Peter Wallsten and Anne E. Kornblut, “In Early Obama White House, Female Staffers Felt Frozen Out,” The Washington Post, 9/20/2011)

FORMER WH CHIEF OF STAFF BILL DALEY: “I DID HEAR THERE WERE SOME ISSUES EARLY ON”… AND THEY WERE RAHM’S FAULT!: ” ‘So I don’t see it as, um, I didn’t even read the book, but I did hear that there were some issues early on under a predecessor of mine, so I can dump on him about it.'”(Daniel Halper, “Daley: The White House’s Women Problem Was Rahm’s Fault,” The Weekly Standard, 10/6/2011)

MAUREEN DOWD REPORTED THAT OBAMA’S WHITE HOUSE WAS AN “OVAL MAN CAVE”: (Maureen Dowd, “Oval Man Cave,” The New York Times, 10/27/2009)

TIME: “NO WOMAN SEEMS TO QUALIFY FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA’S INNERMOST CIRCLE”: (Amy Sullivan, “The White House Boy’s Club: President Obama Has a Woman Problem,” Time, 9/21/2011)

BUSH HAD WOMEN IN HIS “BRAIN TRUST” WHERE OBAMA DOESN’T: (Amy Sullivan, “The White House Boy’s Club: President Obama Has a Woman Problem,” Time, 9/21/2011)