Post by progressiveelement on Jun 27, 2018 18:19:07 GMT
First of all, let’s test that theory of yours. Who specifically are you claiming called George W Bush Hitler? “Liberals” is not an answer! It’s a broad generalization that means nothing. You are clearly claiming that a specific liberal of relevance did this, so who are you making this claim about and what evidence do you have to support it? Because if it wasn’t a known liberal (politician, celebrity, organization, etc) then there would be no reason for the media to report it! Do you know how many random people say things about others all the time? The media doesn’t just report what random people say unless they are relevant and what they say is significant.
Secondly, Romney was rightly criticized for his “binders full of women” comment because that was a ridiculous and tone deaf statement that made him sound completely out of touch. And that’s partly why his lost the election badly! For some additional context, here is what Romney actually said: "I had the chance to pull together a cabinet, and all the applicants seemed to be men… I went to a number of women's groups and said, 'Can you help us find folks?' and they brought us whole binders full of women."
The phrase was depicted by Romney's detractors as demeaning and insensitive toward women, and was widely mocked. Barack Obama referenced the phrase, saying at a campaign stop: "I've got to tell you, we don't have to collect a bunch of binders to find qualified, talented, driven young women". The Washington Post stated: "Mitt Romney's 'binders full of women' comment during the second presidential debate did more than go viral; it put women's issues back in the campaign spotlight."
Also, Romney's statement that he was the one who initiated the recruitment of so many women was challenged by a coalition of women's groups known as MassGAP, affiliated with the Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus. MassGAP issued a statement saying that they had approached both Romney and his opponent's campaigns prior to the election to ask for a commitment to appoint more women to address underrepresentation of women in Massachusetts' government. The group compiled the names of female applicants and offered them to both Romney and his Democratic opponent Shannon O'Brien before the election.
So its not that Romney was “demonized” by liberals for being a conservative candidate. It’s that he made a political gaffe (an untruthful one at that) during his campaign debate which provided a tone deaf appearance, gave his opponent a political advantage, and was ultimately challenged by the very people he referred to.
I also noticed that you failed to provide any of the numerous examples where the right demonized the left (almost like you can’t remember that ever happening before). But again, “selective memory” might convince you that it’s all just liberals demonizing the right! If you’d like me to jog your memory, I’d be happy to provide a dozen recent examples where that happens as well. And I’m not talking about irrelevant and unknown right wing voters making harsh comments about politicians they oppose, I’m talking about actual people in power (in the government) demonizing their political opponents on the left.
But that doesn’t really approach what I’m talking about. I have no doubt that many liberals did demonize their political opponents. I also have no doubt that the reverse is true. That’s part of politics and it always has been. But that’s not what we are talking about here. The issue right now is the level of vitriol, and the manner in which political opponents are being demonized. Being called a name in print, or on the radio, or on television, or on the internet is very different from calls for harassment or violence against political opponents in public places, or veiled threats of jailing your political opponents, or making “jokes” about voters shooting your political opponents, or politicians being denied service because of their political beliefs, or citizens being denied service because of their sexual orientation, et cetera. And that’s the type of activity that’s going on today to the point where it’s becoming a “normal” part of politics.
You wouldn’t have seen a billboard like this one 15 years ago, but today people seem to think it’s okay! That is indicative of the “Trump Effect”!
😱