Betty Sutton by ProgressOhio

Betty Sutton by ProgressOhio

I don’t know why so many people think Republicans are anti-women.  Most supposed examples of Republican sexism completely fall apart upon closer examination:

A recent newsletter from the Republican Party in Medina County, Ohio, flagged by EMILY’s List, contains a specific attack on Democratic Rep. Betty Sutton: “Let’s take Betty Sutton out of the House and put her back in the kitchen.”

County GOP chairman Bill Heck told TPMDC that the newsletter was “an attention-getter” in terms of its political rhetoric. “I’m not sure that it was intended — in fact I’m positive that it was not in intended to be sexist,” said Heck. “In fact, it was speaking to the people of that district, and not intended to be a sexist comment.”

“I mean, I have a wife that was elected twice to county office, and once was a judge. I’ve got two daughters,” Heck added.

You see?  Some of his best friends are women.  He’s even married to one – and he allows her to work!  Although it kind of sounds like he thinks the people in his district are sexist…

But when it comes to making a truly compelling case against Republican bigotry, it’s hard to top Jonah Goldberg:

First, here’s what I didn’t see [at the Cincinnati Tea Party rally]. I didn’t see a single racist or bigoted sign or hear a single such comment.

(…)

One of the more widespread anti-Tea Party arguments goes like this: Republicans didn’t protest very much when Bush ran up deficits and expanded government, so when Obama does the same thing (albeit on a far grander scale), Republican complaints can’t be sincere.

This lazy sophistry opens the door to liberals’ preferred argument: racism. “No student of American history,” writes Paul Butler in The New York Times, “would be surprised to learn that when the United States elects its first non-white President, a strong anti-government movement rises up.”

(…)

I speak for many who have actually spoken to Tea Partiers when I say that is slanderous hogwash.

Well, that’s a relief.  To think that we all foolishly believed the teabaggers are racist because they suddenly discovered their commitment to the Constitution and small government the second a Democrat became President, and not because they’re brandishing pictures of Obama with a bone through his nose.

Jonah then goes on to explain that maybe a tiny bit of the teabaggers’ inconsistency is due to partisanship; the rest is their choice to “prioritize supporting Bush — often in the face of far nastier attacks than Obama has received — over ideological purity” (which is nothing like partisanship) and a determination to not be fooled again after giving a Republican President a free pass (again, nothing like partisanship).

So, to sum up: You can’t be sexist if you’re married, and you can’t be racist if you’re mindlessly partisan and Jonah can’t read your signs.  Or something.