McCain’s Sex (and Woman) Problem

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

How do you square this:

I told her with a little luck she could be the only woman ever to serve as both as First Lady and Miss Buffalo Chip.

With this:

I will be a pro-life President and this presidency will have pro-life policies.

Not even the most flexible of Rovian gymnastics can resolve these two John McCains. It’s contradictory to take a position that human rights begins at conception, and then wink and nod to activities like topless biker beauty contests whose sole purpose is to aid and abet the out-of-wedlock act that is a necessary pre-cursor to conception.

Or is it?

The vast majority of pro-life people I know (and being married to a Catholic I know quite a few) have one consistent position on sex: it’s wrong unless it takes place within a marriage. To that end, there are other positions they necessarily take on public morality in order to halt the sexualization of our culture and give young people – as they would argue – a level playing field to make these choices absent overwhelming peer pressure.

They don’t support the local sex shop down the road. They speak out against billboards featuring scantily clothed teenagers in suggestive positions. Some of them even support John Ashcroft’s decision to “clothe” the statues in the hall of justice by draping fabric over marbelized bare breasts.

And they don’t – I repeat, don’t – support topless biker beauty contests (much less offer their wives to participate in them).

Agree or disagree with these folks, but at least their public views on sex match their religious views.

So what’s up with John McCain?

Let’s take a look at other public statements he has made about sex:

In an appearance before the National League of Cities and Towns in Washington D.C., McCain supposedly asked the crowd if they had heard “the one about the woman who is attacked on the street by a gorilla, beaten senseless, raped repeatedly and left to die?”

The punch line: “When she finally regains consciousness and tries to speak, her doctor leans over to hear her sigh contently and to feebly ask, “Where is that marvelous ape?”

link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…

As Countdown reported, McCain’s campaign neither confirmed or denied the joke, but insisted if true this was just an instance of “McCain being McCain”.

Now, let’s move on to another infamous joke, uttered by John McCain:

“Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?

Because her father is Janet Reno.”

link: http://www.salon.com/news/1998…

If – as John McCain believes – human rights begin at the moment of conception, how in the world does this “joke” even enter his mind, and when it did why did his superego not immediately reject it?

These two jokes – and McCain’s alleged instance of calling his wife a word that rhymes with “hunt” – show a consistent and disturbing character trait of the presumptive Republican nominee: his lack of respect for women. This trait is public, has a considerable history, and may explain McCain’s “pro life” position.

If one didn’t respect women enough to stop one’s self from joking about heinous and sinful acts of violence committed against them, if one didn’t respect women enough to stop one’s self from besmirching the Office of the Attorney General – much less the feelings of a young, teenage girl – and if one didn’t respect women enough to stop one’s self from calling one’s wife one of the most hurtful slurs against women in the English language…

…why, indeed, would one respect women enough to feel that they had both the ability and the right to make profound ethical and moral decisions that affect their private lives all by themselves, without the government – and John McCain – stepping in and telling them what to do?

Had John McCain shown any respect for women, had he actually had any type of public persona that backed up his moralizing on his pro-life position, I would respect that. I would disagree, but I would respect where he’s coming from, as indeed I respect many religious, pro-life people among my friends and family.

But this isn’t where John McCain is coming from. And when we elect a President one of the things we are doing is electing a leader that will set some of the tone in our culture. A leader who holds a pro-life position, not because of their religious beliefs but out of a lack of respect for women, does not help either the country or the pro-life movement.

And that man shouldn’t be our President.