Let me begin by saying I am fully cognizant of the argument that President Trump: 1) Started it; 2) Has used similar language; 3) Deserves it. I don’t accept any of those as a justification for the newly elected Michigan Congresswoman, Rashida Tlaib’s, public use of the term “mother****er” when describing the president to a gaggle of her supporters at a rally. One cannot justify bad behavior by pointing to other bad behavior. Gutter language is simply not what should be used in public discourse.
I think it is appalling that the use of such language seems to be an accepted method of public speech; even by persons who should be setting an example of civility. Should our Civics teachers hold Congresswoman Tlaib up as a shining example of a member of Congress? Strangely those present when she spoke laughed and applauded her comment. What have we sunk to as a society when such language is cheered on? Listening to the various Sunday morning news shows there were all sorts of excuses/defenses of Tlaib’s comment. I may have missed it but I did not hear one person on the Democratic side come out and openly condemn the language.
I did hear Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell say that Tlaib was simply representing her constituents when she made that statement. I hope that isn’t true. I hope her constituents are more civil. Even the Washington Post defended her usage of the term and failed to find such language inappropriate.
It has been interesting to watch the eagerness of the liberal media to find a rationale to allow a tacit approval of such language. They, like so many, are so caught up in their hatred of Trump that they are willing to turn a blind eye to anything that speaks ill of the President no matter how obscene and foul the language.
What would be the reaction of the media, pundits and Democrats had something similar been said as publicly about President Obama? Well we know the answer to that question because during one of President Obama’s addresses to Congress a Republican congressman from Florida yelled out “you lie” when Obama spoke about the virtues of the Affordable Care Act. That action of the congressman was inexcusable despite the accuracy of the observation. However the national media had their undies in knots for days, playing and replaying the scene and castigating the congressman for his rude behavior. Justifiably so. It was, at its very best, rude behavior. However that same sense of outrage is missing in action over the crude term applied to President Trump. I guess it is a case of whose ox is being gored. Clearly there is a double standard in play but if the liberal media didn’t have double standards they’d have no standards at all.
It made me think of what the response of my parents would have been had they learned of my usage of such a term. My father would have applied a razor strop to my backside and my mother would have washed out my mouth with Fels Naptha soap. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib needs a liberal dose of each.
—John L. Lengemann
