Unbecoming memories
Does anybody remember the big flap which was kicked up 4 years ago over Romney's use of the word "unbecoming"? I hadn't thought about it for a while, but I wanted to revisit it today because it belongs in the inner sanctum of the Gender Politics Hall of Fame. A Google search brought up this 2002 column from Jeff Jacoby. Jacoby is a Conservative columnist but that is irrelevant to my blog. It just happened to be the first result brought back by my query:
[Here] in the Bay State, a place famous for its sophistication and intellectual heft, ridiculousness is no barrier to political posturing. And so we had the spectacle last week of a Democratic candidate for governor, a graduate of Yale and Boston University, pretending to be offended because her GOP opponent had used the word "unbecoming" to characterize something she said during a debate.
Mitt Romney uttered the U-word after listening to Shannon O'Brien insinuate that his pro-choice stance on abortion masks a secret pro-life agenda. It is a suggestion she has repeatedly made, and Romney had finally heard enough. "Your effort to continue to try and create fear and deception here," he said with some asperity, "is unbecoming."
And that, O'Brien decided to claim the next day, was a sexist insult.
"I certainly think he wouldn't use the word 'unbecoming' if he were speaking about a male opponent," she sniffed. Well, he might have. Or he might have used a more accurate term, like "sleazy" or "dishonest" or "unscrupulous." All of which are a reasonable description of O'Brien's phony umbrage -- and perhaps a hint of things to come in an O'Brien administration.
[Here] in the Bay State, a place famous for its sophistication and intellectual heft, ridiculousness is no barrier to political posturing. And so we had the spectacle last week of a Democratic candidate for governor, a graduate of Yale and Boston University, pretending to be offended because her GOP opponent had used the word "unbecoming" to characterize something she said during a debate.
Mitt Romney uttered the U-word after listening to Shannon O'Brien insinuate that his pro-choice stance on abortion masks a secret pro-life agenda. It is a suggestion she has repeatedly made, and Romney had finally heard enough. "Your effort to continue to try and create fear and deception here," he said with some asperity, "is unbecoming."
And that, O'Brien decided to claim the next day, was a sexist insult.
"I certainly think he wouldn't use the word 'unbecoming' if he were speaking about a male opponent," she sniffed. Well, he might have. Or he might have used a more accurate term, like "sleazy" or "dishonest" or "unscrupulous." All of which are a reasonable description of O'Brien's phony umbrage -- and perhaps a hint of things to come in an O'Brien administration.
posted by itchy at 8:01 AM
1 Comments:
At least if it ever gets to the point where Romney would be in a position to call Hilary "unbecoming" he'd be fairly accurate? Egad, can you even imagine?!?
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