This story of internecine offense-taking should be educational for those who believe that if only they remain are sufficiently nice to people and avoid saying anything negative, they will avoid giving offense to the permanently – and in some cases, professionally – offended:
Two state legislators are accusing former Congressman Anthony Weiner of displaying a “lack of moral courage” in the face of what they slammed as a “homophobic, misogynistic slur” made by a voter referring to their chosen candidate: City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. And they want him to apologize.
The offense occurred in The Washington Post, which published a lengthy story Thursday on the mayor’s race that included this scene that described Mr. Weiner’s interaction with a voter on the campaign trail:
“You a registered Democrat?” he asked an elderly woman wheeling a shopping cart by him.
“I am,” she said. “And I’m not voting for uh, what’s her name? The dyke.”
“Okay. I just need you to sign the petition to get me on the ballot,” said Weiner, who then noticed the incredulous reaction of a reporter and added, “and you really shouldn’t talk that way about people.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” the woman said.
“It’s okay,” Weiner responded. “It’s not your fault.”
The response left Assemblywoman Deborah Glick and State Senator Brad Hoylman–who have both endorsed Ms. Quinn’s campaign–seething.
“We are appalled by the account in the Washington Post of Anthony Weiner’s unacceptable response to a prospective voter’s homophobic, misogynistic slur in reference to Christine Quinn,” they wrote in a statement Thursday. “Weiner’s response to this blatant display of homophobia is completely inappropriate and extremely alarming. There is nothing ‘okay’ about homophobia and it’s never ‘okay’ to condone bias-based slurs or hate speech of any kind.”
They argued that such language was indicative of the larger challenges faced by female and openly gay political candidates.
“The voter’s use of the term demonstrates the challenges women candidates and lesbians in particular face, and Weiner’s failure to swiftly and firmly condemn her language demonstrates his lack of moral courage,” they added. “We demand an immediate apology from Mr. Weiner on behalf of LGBT and women New Yorkers.”
The fascist pinkshirts are not merely speech police, they are totalitarian thought police. They are the very sort of people of whom George Orwell warned. It’s not enough to leave them alone, because if you merely happen to show insufficient public enthusiasm for causes they consider morally imperative, they will attack you even more ferociously than those who openly oppose them. They are the enemies of free speech, and more than that, they absolutely loathe the very idea of human freedom.
The reason the pinkshirts are always seeking apologies is because they view them, correctly, as public rituals of submission. This is why it is a massive mistake to ever apologize to the monsters or to give them any ground whatsoever. Stand your ground and they will fade away for the time being, (although they will lurk around and strike again the moment they detect any weakness), retreat and they will press forward with alacrity.
Remember that is always about power with these people. It concerns power and nothing else. Note how not even being a high profile member of Team Clinton, (which those who know anything about DC are aware is not exactly unsympathetic to dykes), is enough to protect the left-wing Weiner from attacks on this front. Being offended, or better yet, falsely claiming to feel threatened, is nothing more than a rhetorical tactic for these people, and therefore is best met with a rhetorical response.