Misogyny Vs Respect -- A Question Of Character

I already have one post about McCain's character today, in particular about his love of lying, but maybe it should be today's theme. Here's another, which actually references an event that happened a while ago, but I didn't write about it at the time. Here is what happened (from Jezebel):

John McCain went stumping at the famous Sturgis Biker Rally in South Dakota, putting his candidacy before the most discriminating of political consumers — bikers. When he failed to wow them with his "drill here and drill now" energy plan, or his tax plan or his plan to be out of Iraq for sure by 2013, he tried a different strategy. He suggested to Cindy and the audience that she should compete in the Miss Buffalo Chip contest. What's so bad about that? [TPIP: For one, a "Buffalo Chip" is a euphemism for buffalo shit, not a crispy salty treat.]

Miss Buffalo Chip isn't a beauty contest in the traditional sense — it's a relatively debauched topless (and sometimes bottomless) multiday contest where women dance, jiggle and reportedly even perform blow jobs on bananas for the titillation of the spectators. [TPIP: Actually pickles, not bananas, see video a bit later] And John McCain offered up his 54-year-old wife as a contestant.

Here's the video of McCain offering up his wife:



Now I think Megan from Jezebel has the best analysis of this I've seen yet:

And, let be frank, he didn't do it just because she's pretty or has an enviable body for a 54-year-old woman or because he's proud of his wife's brand of socialite beauty. He did it to pander to the crowd's idea of appropriate masculinity, and that apparently includes over-sexualizing your wife and the mother of your children for the amusement of a few people in a crowd. McCain offered up the thought of his wife objectifying herself for the sexual gratification of others (at his suggestion) in order to get a couple of chuckles, inspire some male fantasy and make a few "friends." Fun! [...]

But what does it say that he would suggest it of his wife? I think it's another piece of gravel in a growing mountain of evidence that John McCain doesn't think a lot about women, their place as equals in society or their rights in that society. But he does seem to think a lot about us as sexual beings — or, at least, sexual objects.

Other notable pieces of gravel include McCain cheating on, and eventually ditching, his first wife after she was injured in a car accident, in favor of a younger, richer, more attractive wife (Cindy); him later calling Cindy a trollop ("whore", for those unaccustomed to the vernacular of [much] older generations) and a cunt; and of course his views on women's rights, to name a few.

But hey, let's see just one of the activities he wanted Cindy to engage in (sorry, no video of the wet t-shirt contests and topless/bottomless objectification), the pickle fellatio contest:



Anyway, to the point of my blog, which is that recently a pastor (actually the pastor who married Jenna Bush on the Bush ranch a few months back, close friend of the Bushes) had some similar concerns, these from a religious perspective, on McCain's treatment of women:

Well, I don't know a lot about John McCain's family history, I do know, however, that as recently as last week I think it was, the Senator made a comment in South Dakota regarding his wife entering some Buffalo Chips contest which is this topless deal and if she were to enter she would probably win it and my personal opinion and based on my understanding of the Christian faith, that's not not, N-O-T, not the type of expression that a presidential candidate, or anyone for that matter who is a follower of the Christian faith, ought to make. I don't know if that is a perfect case in point, but it surely does help to juxtapose the DNA of Senator Obama, if you would, versus the DNA of Senator McCain. [TPIP: I'm not sure why he calls it "DNA" here, because sexism has absolutely nothing to do with genetics, it is all about character.]

His marital history has been duly recorded, and as recently as yesterday I think it is, our pastor from Saddleback, Rick Warren indicated that he would not feel comfortable voting for an adulterer and I don't know exactly to whom he was referring but I think the data speaks for itself, and again, at the end of the day, and I really appreciate you raising this because, at the end of the day again I think the American public deserves full revelation of the candidate's character and competency. Character and competency. So, whatever questions that should be asked that would give the voting public an indication as to who they are and what they've done should be fair game.

While I obviously don't come at this from a religious perspective, I absolutely agree that this does raise very important questions about McCain's character, and how he views women. I think all voters, but especially women voters, (and apparently religious voters as well) need to really consider this. Seriously, can you imagine Barack Obama ever saying anything so awful or sexist about Michelle? Obama was raised by a single mother, is the only political candidate we've seen in ages in a healthy, monogamous relationship, has two daughters who obviously mean the world to him, and he has been a staunch defender of women's rights his entire career. If your issue is family values or compassion, this election is a no-brainer.