The Misogyny Of The GOP Is In Full View

If there was ever a better example of the fact that racism and misogyny were important drivers in the defeat of Hillary Clinton, it would be have to be the silencing of Elizabeth Warren and, simultaneously, the voice of Coretta Scott King by Mitch McConnell and the Republicans on Tuesday night. And let’s be clear, it was not just Mitch McConnell but the entire bloc of Republican Senators that silenced Warren and King in a party line vote. To make matters even more clear to women around the country, male Democratic Senators also read Mrs. King’s letter and were not censured. That may be because it was already clear that the move was backfiring for the GOP, but the more likely explanation was that Warren, a woman, was the real target.

That suspicion was seemingly confirmed today by a supposed “moderate” voice in the Senate, Lindsey Graham, who said, “The bottom line is, it was long overdue with her. I mean, she is clearly running for the nomination in 2020.” This is pretty rich coming from a failed presidential candidate himself. But it speaks to the real misogyny in the Republican party that any woman who has the temerity to run for president must be rebuked.

And it’s not just misogyny, but racism and anti-Semitism as well. Jeff Sessions is the poster boy for racist politics but the GOP had no problem ramming him through the confirmation process. And on Tuesday, the House refused to consider a resolution which had been signed on to by 100 Democrats that would “affirm that the Nazi regime targeted the Jewish people in its perpetration of the Holocaust.” The GOP House defeated the procedural maneuver to consider the resolution in a party line vote. The measure was introduced to highlight the fact that Trump’s Holocaust Remembrance Day statement intentionally left out any mention of Jews.

The farther we get away from the 2016 election and the actions of the GOP majority come into stark relief, the more and more it becomes clearer how important not only racism but especially misogynysm was in Hillary Clinton’s defeat. Without re-opening the civil war between the Hillary and Bernie camps, it seems more and more likely that Bernie Sanders might have squeaked through to the Presidency had he won the nomination. In many ways, he would have blunted not only Trump’s inroads on trade but also been able to deflect the attack that he was really a closet Communist by focusing on Trump’s fondness for Putin. More importantly, there are apparently a huge swath of marginally blue voters who seem to simply find it hard to pull the voting lever for a woman. Bernie would not have presented that problem. It is sad to admit, but probably true.