When you make a misogynist joke, apologize to the nearest man

Written by

Ophelia Benson

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Preet Bharara said a thing.

“It’s hard not to be proud of John McCain.” Agreed. Whatever your politics.

Wellll, thought I. No. No it’s not. He chose Sarah Palin as his vice president. That means he chose her for president should he win the election and then die in office. That all by itself makes it not hard to refrain from being unmixedly proud of John McCain.

A friend pointed out another one, that I don’t think I was aware of. Ed Pilkington in the Guardian in September 2008 (two months before McCain lost to Obama):

Imagine the stink that would erupt were David Cameron to stand up in front of a dinner of rich Conservative backers and make a “joke” that implied that Sarah Brown had had a lesbian affair with Jacqui Smith and produced a love child (and an ugly one to boot). Can you imagine British papers deciding to downplay the story because it was in such bad taste, allowing Cameron to carry on with his assault on Downing Street?

Cross the pond and that is exactly what happened to John McCain at a fundraising dinner in Arizona a decade ago. “Do you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly?” he told a handful of big Republican funders. “Because Janet Reno is her father.”

Jesus. Misogyny much?

The remark packed into its 15 words several layers of misogyny. It disparaged the looks of Chelsea, then 18 and barely out of high school; it portrayed Reno as a man at a time when she was serving as the first female US attorney general; and it implied that Hillary Clinton was engaged in a lesbian affair while the Monica Lewinsky scandal was blazing. Not bad going, Senator McCain.

Any one of those elements would seem potentially terminal for a public figure. Yet here he is 10 years later presenting himself as a champion of feminism by appointing Sarah Palin as his running mate.

And according to Pilkington the US press barely touched it, which is why most of us didn’t know about it. (That was long before Twitter, of course…) They did him the favor of looking fixedly in the other direction. He still lost the election but he wasn’t outed for that shitty mean joke.

After his misogynist joke, McCain said sorry to Bill Clinton (though he made no direct apology to the three women involved) and the incident was all but forgotten.

Brilliant. He apologized to the bro but not to the women he actually taunted.

Whatever your politics, that’s shitty.

Comments

8 responses to “When you make a misogynist joke, apologize to the nearest man”

  1. iknklast Avatar
    iknklast

    Bill should have told him he couldn’t accept any apology delivered to him, get your ass over there and apologize to Chelsea, Hillary, and Janet Reno.

  2. Omar Avatar
    Omar

    McCain emerges as a nasty man. No excuses.

  3. Skeletor Avatar
    Skeletor

    while the Monica Lewinsky scandal was blazing

    Lolwut? Not sure what that has to do with McCain’s behavior…

    More McCain “humor”:

    An Arizona blog called Rum, Romanism and Rebellion, run by a former vice chairman of the state’s Democratic Party, unearthed a 1986 article in the Tucson Citizen in which McCain was reported to have said the following:

    “Did you hear the one about the woman who is attacked on the street by a gorilla, beaten senseless, raped repeatedly and left to die? 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?’ “

    Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/17/AR2008071700195_3.html

  4. Ophelia Benson Avatar
    Ophelia Benson

    Oh ffs. Apart from anything else those jokes are SO UNFUNNY.

  5. Skeletor Avatar
    Skeletor

    McCain did some good and did some bad. He seems to have had some principles.

    Overall, I don’t think his legacy is positive. It had a chance to be, when he blocked Obamacare repeal. But then he voted for that travesty of a tax bill.

    And now he’s being treated as a hero for not wanting Trump at his funeral. Trump treated him like garbage, and he still did most of Trump’s bidding.

  6. Rob Avatar
    Rob

    OB @ 4. But you’re looking at it all wrong! If you believe (or are simply so smugly male that you’ve never thought of it) that underneath all the feminism women just really crave long duration rough sex imposed on them by someone with a huge dick, then see, that joke is a thigh slapper.

    [this comment may contain traces of snark]

  7. iknklast Avatar
    iknklast

    But then he voted for that travesty of a tax bill

    The consistent refrain of even the most moderate Republicans – taxes are bad, taxes are bad, taxes are bad

    Democrat voter: Let’s reduce the amount of corporate welfare.

    Republicans (fingers in ears): I can’t hear you!

    Democrat voter: We could reduce taxes without hurting the social safety net

    Republican: Taxes are bad Taxes are bad Taxes are bad Get away from me, you social justice warrior

  8. tiggerthewing Avatar
    tiggerthewing

    Skeletor:

    while the Monica Lewinsky scandal was blazing

    Lolwut? Not sure what that has to do with McCain’s behavior…

    McCain was implying that the reason Bill Clinton was going after another woman was because his wife was having a lesbian affair. Do you get it now?

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