Widgetized Section
Go to Admin » Appearance » Widgets » and move Gabfire Widget: Social into that MastheadOverlay zone
Rachel Maddow Intellectually Destroys the Republican War On Women
Rachel Maddow responded to the Republican denial of a pay gap, and the Meet The Press attack on her, by intellectually destroying the Republican War On Women.
Here is the video from MSNBC:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Maddow said, “What I wanted to talk about there was policy. About why Republicans would not support a common sense solution to a very specific part of the problem of women making less than men. But on the way to trying to raise that question, I accidentally learned, I guess we all accidentally learned that Republicans don’t believe that women make less money than men do. Women make less money than men do. On average, women get paid seventy seven cents for every dollar that a man gets paid. That’s for everybody in the workforce. If you look at the most popular jobs among men, it is the same thing. If you look at the most popular jobs among women, it is the same thing. There are a few outliers you can cherry pick like you can with any statistical truth, but this is a really, really clear statistical truth.”
The MSNBC host continued, “Women get paid less than men do, seventy seven cents on the dollar on average, that’s true. Democrats know that’s true. It is the accepted truth by anybody who is looking at the facts of the matter. Republicans do not know that’s true. This seems important. I finally see this now, and it’s important both in terms of the facts, but also in terms of the politics. I think this is why this debate has been so talking past each other, so incoherent and dissatisfying.”
Maddow blew the GOP’s war on women solution out of the water, “Republicans think that you solve the war on women perception problem by having your presidential candidate be seen with women. Right? That’s Mr. Romney on the campaign trail today with Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte. She won Judd Gregg’s senate seat after he retired from the Senate. Two days after President Obama was inaugurated, Judd Gregg was one of those Republicans who voted no on the Fair Pay Act. Because there is no fair pay problem, right? When they got in trouble on this issue earlier, they put out Kathy McMorris Rogers as Mr. Romney’s female surrogate to shore up the way people felt about this issue. She voted no on the Fair Pay Act. Mr. Romney himself will not say whether he would have signed the Fair Pay Act that President Obama signed. Republican Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who Mitt Romney has been praising as a hero, he just repealed the state level version in Wisconsin of the Fair Pay Act.”
Rachel Maddow concluded, “If you recognize that there is a problem with women getting paid less than men, a political party opposing or at least refusing to support policy to fix that problem seems like hostility towards women’s interests. But if you don’t recognize that there is a problem with women getting paid less than men, then policy debates about how to fix something that’s not really a problem just don’t seem that important to you. And so you downplay the importance of policy, and you can’t understand why everybody keeps saying this war on women thing is going on. And your seventeen point deficit with women voters, that’s uh, that’s uh, that’s just the product of not putting your candidate out there with enough women standing next to him, regardless of how they vote and what they think.
And that brings us to what’s going to be a central bet in the campaign, a central question. Does the country live in Republican world, where women getting paid less than men isn’t a problem? Where policy on issues like this don’t matter, because it turns out women are doing great. While Mitt Romney was on the campaign trail with a female Senator Kelly Ayotte today, on the campaign trail for President Obama today in New Hampshire, in the same state was Lily Ledbetter. After whom the Fair Pay Act was named. The Democratic side is making a bet that general election voters are not Republicans on the set of Meet The Press. They are betting that the average general election voter does not live in Republican world, but rather in the reality based community, where facts are useful for understanding what the problems are, and policy is useful for solving those problems.”
Rachel Maddow responded to the attack on her and all women on Meet The Press, by attacking the basic strategy behind the war on women. (Hint: it’s the same strategy that Republicans use when they attack every issue). The basic strategy, which Maddow politely described as not knowing, is an intentional rejection of facts. Republicans have constructed a world for themselves where facts are what they decide they are. Right wing ideologues understand that they can challenge any issue simply by denying the facts.
Every element of the Republican war on women is based on a denial of facts. In keeping with her style, Maddow never came out and said that Republicans are being willfully ignorant, but this is exactly what she was talking about. Republicans intentionally reject facts that are either politically damaging to them, or disagree with their ideology. This was the tactic used against Maddow on Meet The Press. By disagreeing on the facts, it was impossible for her to discuss the policies that Republicans are using to take rights away from women all across the country.
The other area that Maddow focused on was the Republican solution to the perception problem caused by women. Their big answer is to surround their presidential candidate with lots of women. Not surprisingly, this is the same strategy the party used in 2008 when Sarah Palin was added to the ticket to attract women voters. The fact that the GOP thinks that women are so stupid that they will ignore the theft of their rights as long as they see Mitt Romney campaigning with other women demonstrates that their attitude towards over half of the population has not changed in nearly four years.
Alex Castellanos and the Republican Party made a big mistake when they set out to make an example out of Rachel Maddow, and MSNBC host responded with the best kind of retaliation. She used truth and facts to expose what the Republicans are doing, and she went deeper than the rest of the media has on this story.
The story should have never been a debate on whether or not there is pay gap. Anyone who limited their reporting to the pay gap missed the bigger point. The real questions that should be discussed are why are Republicans rejecting empirical data and agreed upon facts? What are their motives? What is going on beneath the surface? It isn’t that Republicans don’t know that a pay gap exists, but that they are denying the existence itself.
The Republican Party is going to long regret coming after Rachel Maddow. By attacking Maddow, they not only lost the battle, but they may also lose their war against women.
Related Posts :
Republicans tried to target Rachel Maddow in their war on women, but Maddow made history by calling out ...
Rachel Maddow was on Meet The Press today talking about the healthcare bill that the House recently passed. ...
On NBC's Meet The Press today MSNBC's Rachel Maddow refuted the GOP talking point that passing healthcare re ...
On MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show, host Rachel Maddow traced President Barack Obama's efforts towards political ...
The MSNBC ad campaign Move Forward is moving forward into its post-Olbermann phase with Spike Lee ads fo ...
22 Responses to Rachel Maddow Intellectually Destroys the Republican War On Women
Public Service Advertisements
Sergio
May. 1st, 2012 at 11:02 am
She has done it before and will doit again keep up the good work
Also drift is a great book
Diederik van Nederveen
May. 1st, 2012 at 11:29 am
Organized religion has an overall suppression of women that is viewed as ‘alright.’ Even the women won’t speak up out of fear of sinning. My ex-Mormon friends have told me much about the oppression within the Mormon church. Now we have a Mormon candidate who is used to ‘running the household’ with his ‘priesthood power’ and females do not have a say in final decisions. My ex-Mormon friends speak of the all male leadership’s treatment of women like this: “That’s nice, honey, now why don’t you run along and cook up something nice. It’s time for the men to talk.”
Kudos to Rachel Maddow and her progressive way of thinking! Keep it coming.
Shiva (Moderator)
May. 1st, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Interesting website.
Frank
May. 1st, 2012 at 1:37 pm
I’m glad that someone recognizes that the race is more about the Mormons/LDS than Romney, he is just a voice piece for them. People should research the LDS hate group before voting and see that they were the first domestic terrorists…:-{>
Julia
May. 1st, 2012 at 11:46 am
Oh noz! According to Lisa Maatz, a women’s rights activist and director of public policy and gov’t relations, who appeared on CNN last night, women make 5 cents less on average than men, per hour. Assuming a 40-hour work week and further assuming a full 52 week work year, that amounts to $104 per year. That’s also assuming that this 5 cents doesn’t wash out in statistical error.
Add the War on Women to the list of liberal religious beliefs that have no basis in reality. If you want to talk about gender wars, why don’t we talk about the War on Men that is occurring…..literally. It’s called Afghanistan and it’s an actual war and although men make up about 50% of the population, they suffer well over 99% of the casualties of war. I think we should institute a selective draft of women in order to combat this current and historic inequality. Then again, we don’t really need a draft because I’m sure all you liberal women out there, who are now aware of this injustice, will go to your local recruitment center and sign on the dotted line. Social justice for all!
Denise Holmes
May. 1st, 2012 at 12:00 pm
No, we liberal woman out here are working hard to END wars and achieve peace for our children and grandchildren!
Sarah Jones
May. 1st, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Julia,
who started that war? Do you know? If so, how can you possibly put it on liberals?
Do you recall the Iraq war, started on lies, and liberals protesting it? Conservatives called us “unpatriotic” then.
And now you’re trying to pin war on liberals? That’s just crazy talk. Also, fyi, women fight in wars now. I have plenty of female friends who are serving.
DO you know why Bush did not institute a draft? Because he knew it would be unpopular, and he and his friends could make more money by using taxpayer money to pay private contractors to do the jobs that our troops used to do.
But you are advocating a draft of women? Interesting. How about we not invade countries based on a lie? Let’s start there and then maybe we wouldn’t be needing to have this discussion about drafts.
As for policy, you don’t get to just deny policy exists and claim there is no war on women. Policy is a matter of record. You can pretend, sure, but no one is going to take you seriously if you do that.
Here’s a link for Republican policy against women- all the Republicans have done is attack women, not one single jobs bill until two weeks ago. Not one:
www.politicususa.com/the-...
All of this nonsense you just spouted is meant to distract from the above link.
THERE IS A WAR ON WOMEN, IT’S IN THE POLICY. IT’S CALLED A FACT.
LibReal
May. 2nd, 2012 at 2:40 am
Thank YOU Sarah because I was just simply going to tell Julia to just FCUK-OFF rather than WASTE my time giving her an INTELLIGENT response! She really needs BOTH!
:)
Art
May. 1st, 2012 at 5:16 pm
Jeanne, Jeanne, Jeanne!!! Leave the dingbat alone, I want to call her stupid, too!
Reynardine
May. 1st, 2012 at 7:29 pm
A standard tactic of abusers is to compound an abuse by denying with a straight face that it occurred and calling the victim’s sanity into question. It’s called gaslighting, and itself constitutes psychological abuse. Now, maybe you are really Julia, and not Julius. If so, I caution you that no matter how much scorn you heap on women, the next time you go to the toilet, you’ll see the same thing you saw last time you went to the toilet.
Sally
May. 1st, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Julia, why don ‘t you just call for the “Christian” thing to do: end war altogether?
As far as Ms. Maatz, I can find no mention of that interview on CNN’s website, but I can relate a true story. My best friend’s daughter has degrees in economics and German. She was hired by a company to write bids for overseas accounts,replacing a man who was not bilingual. She was paid $50,000 after three years. The man who she replaced had also been there three years, but his salary was $250,000 a year! Now, who is telling the truth here about pay inequity? Women will generally not whine and fight for higher wages, and thus are paid as little as a company can get away with “oh, it’s a second income; oh, she might get pregnant and need time off; oh, she’s just a woman.”
For you to say this is a ‘religious belief’ is strange. My religious beliefs have nothing to do with wages. My sense of fairness, however, is at play. And what about ‘conservative religioous beliefs?’ Do you really support war, and the invasion of womens’ bodies by a government that insists every miscarriage is murder. which is where we are heading? Truly? Are you that willing to turn your privacy over to the state, while decrying social safety nets and health care as a ‘nanny state?’
A Walkaway
May. 2nd, 2012 at 11:30 am
It sounds like “Julia” is parroting the bullshit the preachers spout. I’ve heard similar before.
When our dominionist neighbors learned that I’d helped teach evolution, part of the lengthy screamfest directed at me was that I was a “Evolutionist” and that I was teaching evolution. They insisted that I viewed Darwin like they view Jesus… pure bullshit, but that’s what they had been told.
They also insisted that I was a “Evolutionist” even when I said I was Christian… that I couldn’t be a Christian unless I believed the Bible was absolutely true and since I accepted evolution, I wasn’t Christian because I was denying the Bible.
Their preachers insist that if we don’t follow them, we’re followers of some strange religion when it’s not even remotely true. They insist that we BELIEVE things instead of knowing facts which can be demonstrated (showing the error of their own worldview). Religion has nothing to do with, for instance, our knowledge of the war on women, or evolution, or the greed of the 1% and how this nation is being forced into a theocracy (or oligarchy).
The sad thing is, people like that have been programmed against questioning authority and thinking for themselves – and their preachers are getting more and more pro-violence in the brainwashing they commit. I would ask “Julia” if “she” would do to someone what the local “Good Christians” have done to us (and this is a rather common experience)… kill pets, commit arson, and try to practice “Christian” sorcery against the people that don’t accept their bullshit. If she would try to keep the person she thinks is her enemies from getting decent employment. If she would tell LIES about them.
They seem to have forgotten that the actions they do are strong signs that they are NOT following what they claim to.
Sarah Jones
May. 1st, 2012 at 12:06 pm
These numbers are astounding. And watching AC condescend to Rachel again was sickening.
Here’s a little note I’ve picked up over the years. When a man does that, it’s because I’m right.
They want you to get upset at being treated poorly and lose focus on the point. In this case, AC could not discuss policy, or he would lose. So he instead treated the messenger as if she were a little emotional girl over her head. He must be used to this working, because when it didn’t, his frozen mid death of a talking point attempt at a smile was comical.
This is how they kill discussion about inequality, but we’re not having it any more and these dinosaurs need to get out of the way.
A female puppet who parrots patriarchy is not fooling us. How many times do we have to make that point to Republicans? (HINT SEE 2008). We understand the policy because we LIVE IT.
Jeanne
May. 1st, 2012 at 1:12 pm
Julie is living proof that there is no more worthless individual than Republican women. They gladly stand on the backs of the women who went before them to get what they want and leave nothing for the women to come. They are users. And as Julie has once again proven, incredibly stupid. Who needs facts when you have FOX noise to tell you what to think, huh, Julie?
Jeanne
May. 1st, 2012 at 1:13 pm
…and I got her name wrong on purpose. I decided to make up my own facts, just like her.
Zekke LyDonna
May. 1st, 2012 at 6:10 pm
I think Rachel may get a Peabody Award for her reporting on Michigan Politics. She certainly deserves an Emmy for her news show.
Jeff R
May. 2nd, 2012 at 1:11 am
Ms. Maddow did an excellent job of laying out the problem and it will, or at least should, begin to convince a few people, but it will not convince “conservatives,” because their drive to greedy Social Darwinism and the ideology I believe they have constructed to justify that drive will not allow them to be convinced.
Very briefly this is my thesis…
Virtually every human being wants to believe they are a good person. If one recognizes that a serious injustice exists, but due to something such a personal selfishness, greed or fear chooses to do nothing to correct that injustice, they are not a good person. This is not a emotionally tenable position, so the “conservative” solution to that dilemma is simple… refuse to acknowledge of believe that an injustice has occurred. For the authoritarian leadership of the movement such refusal is a strategic choice. For the followers of the movement such disbelief is a psychological defense.
Similarly, if one feels uncontrollably compelled to belittle and bully people who are born different from them such as gay people, they are a bigot. These days no one wants to believe they are a bigot. In today’s America bigots are not “good people.” The “conservative” solution, as Ms. Maddow recently discussed on her show, is to insist that people choose to be gay. That it is a “life-style” choice. Certainly one can freely and even properly choose to not associate with people who choose to do things we find abhorrent or offensive. Liberals refuse to associate with people whose behavior they find offensive… such as people who show their love of American history by displaying the Stars and Bars or people who smoke. Certainly they have the same right to refuse to associate with people who choose to be gay.
This tactic is widely used to deny many things:
Anthropogenic climate change, pollution, the destructive nature of “conservative” economic principles, “conservatives” history of limiting and destroying civil rights, the destructive power of placing property rights before or above personal rights, the importance of labor unions in maintaining a vibrant middle-class, the failure of our country’s medical care delivery system, liberalism’s success in making most Americans lives better, conservatism’s proud history of making most Americans lives worse … the list of indisputable facts that “conservatives” must deny in order to maintain their self-respect in the face of their own appalling behavior is virtually endless.
For nearly a quarter century, “conservatives” have used and misused the work of philosophers like Leo Strauss and so it has been the publically, if quietly, stated position of the “conservative movement” that truth and fact are not intrinsically valuable, but valuable only to the degree that such truth and fact support and advance the movement. For modern “conservatives” refusal to accept established fact and strategic prevarication advance the movement and is therefore a more than acceptable tactic.
I enjoy Ms. Maddow’s show and wish her well, but then I’m part of the choir.
A Walkaway
May. 2nd, 2012 at 11:35 am
Uhh… Let’s replace “Social Darwinism” with “Spencerism” or “Social Spencerism”, as Darwin had nothing to do with the ideology and rejected it. SPENCER is the one responsible for the ideology and thinking (which the 1% of his time LOVED and supported).
Otherwise, I generally agree with you.
Conservative Heart
May. 2nd, 2012 at 1:36 am
Rachel Maddow is a liberal wingnut bitch!
She has a job, she leaves the house, she doesn’t bear male children, and worst of all, she doesn’t know to shut up in the presence of a man!!!
She is NOT a real woman.
fairlysharon
May. 2nd, 2012 at 7:35 am
does that help you feel better about yourself, insulting another person?
how very pathetic
A Walkaway
May. 2nd, 2012 at 11:32 am
Again, you’ve caught the conservative sentiment with great precision and accuracy!
You have a real knack of doing so!
People – that’s exactly the sort of thing that Conservatives will say. (Think about that.)