I don't often write to defend president Obama, but this time, I just have to. The subject is Obama's statement at a fundraiser in California last Thursday when he said of California Attorney General Kamala Harris: "She's brilliant and she's dedicated, she's tough. ... She also happens to be, by far, the best-looking attorney general. It's true, c'mon."
Obama's statement drew instant and strong criticism from all sorts of organizations and individuals who said it was inappropriate to mention the looks of the California Attorney General. The PC thought police came down so hard on Obama that he called Harris yesterday to apologize for what he said.
Let's think about that for a minute. Obama called Harris (1) brilliant, (2) tough and (3) good looking. For that outrage, he had to apologize. Are they kidding? Obama was not denigrating Harris in any way. He was not minimizing her talents or performance as AG in any way. He was just paying a compliment to a woman who happens to be good looking. Anyone who was offended by such comment is a nut job. Wait, anyone offended is a good-looking nut job (I wanted to be supremely harsh so I added good looking.)
Without a doubt, it is inappropriate to use a person's looks to comment on their politics or their competence. Chris Christie is not a better or worse governor because of his weight. But mentioning Christie's weight would not be complimentary. On the other hand, the same people who got upset at what Obama said never fail to use looks to denigrate those with whom they disagree. Who could forget all those slams of Sarah Palin since 2008 as a woman who reached her positions only on the strength of her looks. Where was NOW when that was being said. And how about Hollywood? Remember the episode of "The New Normal" where a woman was accused of being a racist because she wore her hair like Callista Gingrich? It was bad enough to falsely accuse Mrs. Gingrich of being a racist, but then to conflate that with her hair style was unbelievably inappropriate. Where were the women's groups on that one?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with paying a compliment to a man or a woman. It is not offensive. Obama should not have apologized. I guess he just wanted to look good doing it.
Obama's statement drew instant and strong criticism from all sorts of organizations and individuals who said it was inappropriate to mention the looks of the California Attorney General. The PC thought police came down so hard on Obama that he called Harris yesterday to apologize for what he said.
Let's think about that for a minute. Obama called Harris (1) brilliant, (2) tough and (3) good looking. For that outrage, he had to apologize. Are they kidding? Obama was not denigrating Harris in any way. He was not minimizing her talents or performance as AG in any way. He was just paying a compliment to a woman who happens to be good looking. Anyone who was offended by such comment is a nut job. Wait, anyone offended is a good-looking nut job (I wanted to be supremely harsh so I added good looking.)
Without a doubt, it is inappropriate to use a person's looks to comment on their politics or their competence. Chris Christie is not a better or worse governor because of his weight. But mentioning Christie's weight would not be complimentary. On the other hand, the same people who got upset at what Obama said never fail to use looks to denigrate those with whom they disagree. Who could forget all those slams of Sarah Palin since 2008 as a woman who reached her positions only on the strength of her looks. Where was NOW when that was being said. And how about Hollywood? Remember the episode of "The New Normal" where a woman was accused of being a racist because she wore her hair like Callista Gingrich? It was bad enough to falsely accuse Mrs. Gingrich of being a racist, but then to conflate that with her hair style was unbelievably inappropriate. Where were the women's groups on that one?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with paying a compliment to a man or a woman. It is not offensive. Obama should not have apologized. I guess he just wanted to look good doing it.
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