Elizabeth Lauten: The double-standard of The Washington Post
I don’t have public opinions about too many things in politics these days, but Jay Caruso’s piece over on Redstate – WaPo Depicts Cruz’s Daughters As Monkeys, Media Focuses On His Reaction – caught my attention so bear with me. If we’re going to be a society that endeavors to set national standards Americans respect and adhere to (else suffer the consequences), the media needs to do its part in helping maintain those standards rather than breaking them when it’s politically expedient. “The interesting part of all of this is how the media saw it,” Caruso wrote at Redstate. “… the media, who as a whole favor Democrats over Republicans, never focus on the act when something like this happens – when it happens to a Republican.” I know what he’s talking about all too well. Caruso continued, “People may forget the name Elizabeth Lauten, but not what happened to her. She was the communications director for Rep. Steve Fincher of Tennessee. One day on her private (or so she thought) Facebook page, she made some comments about President Obama’s daughters. The comments were relatively tame but the media reacted with a fury as though Lauten posted an ad in the middle of Times Square calling them out.” Needless to say, I would have thought The Washington Post of all places would try and be the standard-bearer in the “kids are off limits” arena having vilified me incessantly, writing nearly two dozen stories in less than a week, for my thoughtless Facebook post last year. Alas, I’m reminded we’re all humans and we all make bad choices sometimes. Do I think Washington Post political cartoonist Ann Telnaes is evil? No. Callous in her cartoon? Sure. Should it cost her her job? No. Should this be a learning lesson for her, the paper, and the nation reminding us yet again that kids should not be made targets in politics? Absolutely. I learned a great deal myself last year when my Facebook post turned my world on its head. What I experienced the week after that day I’d never wish on anyone. It was a level of hopelessness I still have a hard time describing. But in it all there was a divine humility: It took falling to the lowest of lows for me to stop and make my relationship with God a priority again. And that then served as a catalyst for an inexplicable change deep within me. I believe it was part of my destiny to live through something so unimaginably embarrassing and emotionally awful to teach me deep painful lessons and set me on a new trajectory. And it did. So instead of calling and emailing me all day for comments on The Washington Post’s blatant double-standard, know this: Right now, I’m simply reminded that we can ALL do better. We have to. After all, I love this country far too much to condemn it our current status quo. Godspeed, Ann. This too shall pass.
Donald Trump barred from conservative gathering after latest barb
Donald Trump opened his mouth and now finds the door closed to him at a high-profile gathering of conservative activists. His latest incendiary comment, about one of the Fox News moderators from Thursday’s Republican presidential debate, has led to a scolding by the party and condemnation by organizers of the RedState Gathering. The billionaire businessman lashed out against Fox News’ Megyn Kelly for her questions during the campaign’s first debate. She had asked the candidate about his use of derogatory language toward women and whether it reflected the “temperament of a man we should elect as president.” Referring to Kelly’s questions, Trump told CNN in an interview late Friday, “There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” Soon after the interview aired, RedState‘s Erick Erickson booted Trump from the event’s Saturday lineup. “I just don’t want someone on stage who gets a hostile question from a lady and his first inclination is to imply it was hormonal. It just was wrong,” Erickson wrote on the RedState website. He said that “while Mr. Trump resonates with a lot of people with his bluntness, including me to a degree, there are just real lines of decency a person running for president should not cross.” Trump’s campaign was incensed — and unbowed. “This is just another example of weakness through being politically correct. For all of the people who were looking forward to Mr. Trump coming, we will miss you. Blame Erick Erickson, your weak and pathetic leader,” according to a campaign statement. The Republican National Committee, treading carefully about the current front-runner for the 2016 nomination, called on Trump to “immediately clarify” his comment and said it would “highly inappropriate” if Trump stood by his remarks. Trump needs “to understand that he is seeking the presidency of the United States now and that words do matter,” RNC spokesman Sean Spicer told NBC’s “Today” show on Saturday. “I’m hoping that Mr. Trump, because he does speak off the cuff, because he doesn’t ascribe to political correctness, was speaking in a way that wasn’t fully thought out,” Spicer said. Trump’s absence from Saturday’s program threatened to overshadow appearances by a number of his rivals, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Erickson said he had invited Fox’s Kelly to attend in place of Trump in the evening. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
