How do you tell the difference between real people and politicians? That’s easy. Real people care about real things that are done to real people.
Politicians, on the other hand, pretend to be outraged about totally made-up controversies that don’t make any difference to anyone other than to try to distract attention from the real things politicians are doing to real people.
This fictional world inhabited by politicians was clearly illustrated by the chorus of anguished wailing by Republican politicians over some harsh words Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz used to describe the vicious anti-women policies of Gov. Scott Walker.
Here are a few of the words used by Republicans and some of their allies in the media to describe the language used by Florida Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz: “shocking,” “absolutely hideous,” “despicable,” “horrific,” “outrageous,” “appalling” and “shameful.”
Sheesh, that Wasserman Schultz must have some filthy mouth on her.
Actually, she doesn’t. But Wasserman Schultz does know ruthless Republican actions to deny equal treatment and equal rights for women when she sees them.
Here are the two sentences that stunned Republicans into horrified cries of disbelief: “Scott Walker has given women the back of his hand... What Republican tea party extremists like Scott Walker are doing is they are grabbing us by the hair and pulling us back.”
Not a single real person would hear those sentences and think Wasserman Schultz was accusing Walker of actually physically battering women or pulling their hair.
Yet, Republican Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch immediately attacked Wasserman Schultz for what she called “the language of domestic violence.” First Lady Tonette Walker stretched that dishonest claim even further in a fundraising appeal accusing Wasserman Schultz of “belittling victims of domestic violence.”
Wasserman Schultz actually hadn’t said anything at all about domestic violence.
If she had, she could have pointed out she and Milwaukee Congresswoman Gwen Moore were prime movers in reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act in 2013 over the obnoxious male opposition of Republicans including Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson and congressmen Jim Sensenbrenner and Reid Ribble.
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Walker’s Policies Harm Women
Wasserman Schultz was talking about a much more insidious form of abuse of women by Walker and other Republicans. It may not leave any physical marks, but it’s not invisible, either. We see Republican policies that do violence to equal treatment and equal opportunities for women all around us.
It starts with Walker doing everything possible to write his own religious beliefs against abortion into law, denying women the freedom to follow their own religious beliefs and make their own choices regarding pregnancy and contraception.
To protect the religious freedom of everyone, requiring all Americans by law to follow the beliefs of any one religion has been unconstitutional ever since the beginning of our democracy.
But Wisconsin’s Republican Party under Walker has become so extreme that not a single Republican woman in the state Legislature dares to stand up for the freedom of women to decide for themselves whether to give birth if they become pregnant, no matter what the circumstances.
That includes Republican state Sen. Alberta Darling, who in a previous life was a board member of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.
Now Darling joins Walker in requiring intrusive ultrasounds for anyone desiring a legal abortion, adding unnecessary requirements for doctors performing abortions that shut down many clinics and even defunding Planned Parenthood from providing cancer screenings and other non-abortion-related health services for women.
Walker’s direct assault on the well-being of women can sometimes take hidden forms.
Walker’s refusal to expand Medicaid for the poor under the Affordable Care Act with 100% federal funding overwhelmingly hurts poor, single mothers. Women dominate low-wage jobs and they’re the ones hurt most by Walker’s opposition to raising an inadequate, unlivable minimum wage.
Other times Walker’s gender bias against women is right out there in the open for all to see. In 2012, Walker signed a bill preventing anyone subjected to employment or pay discrimination from seeking punitive and compensatory damages in state courts.
Golly, I wonder what group of employees regularly suffers from being paid less and promoted less than their male colleagues when doing the same work.
A few words that come into real people’s minds to describe such a relentless list of anti-women Walker policies include: “absolutely hideous,” “despicable,” “horrific,” “outrageous,” “appalling” and “shameful.”
Not “shocking,” though. It’s just business as usual for Walker and Republicans to perpetuate white, male privilege by subjugating the rights of women and others they consider lesser human beings.
With a strong female challenger, Democrat Mary Burke, ahead of Walker in some polls, this could be the year when Wisconsin women finally get payback for years of political abuse.
The male bullies who have always ruled the Republican locker room may be kidding themselves if they think they even know how their own wives and daughters are going to vote.
