I watched Morning Joe on MSNBC this morning only to hear a bit of sanity there from Mike Barnicle. Mr. Barnicle raised the question of whether or not Judge Sotomayor would have been asked about temperament if she were a man. All of the participants on the panel said that no, a man would not have been asked about temperament. I have another answer to that and that would be "Hell no, a man would not be asked about his temperament." What Lindsey Graham wanted to really ask is "Are you a Bitch". There are no two ways about it. Also duly noted by me and by many women viewing the hearings is that he talked down to her like he was schooling a little girl to never, ever, do or say what she said in those remarks. It was humiliating to listen to and, I must say, Judge Sotomayor handled it with grace and with ease. I could not have done that.
I am a lifelong feminist. I am a 60 year old female who lives in Texas who decided back in the 1960's that I would be a feminist and that I would not let men walk all over me in my life. So far, I have been successful. That is not to say that they have not tried. I worked around powerful men my entire career and consistently demanded respect from them. I received it. That is not to say that they (including my husband) do not still try. I am ever on the alert for code words or tones of voice or outright bullying. I have radar for it. And yesterday, my radar screen was going nuts over the tone and the bullying from Lindsey Graham. I was on my way back home from being out, and was listening to the hearings on Pacifica Radio in Houston, Texas (the only liberal radio station in Houston). When I arrived home, my husband was watching it on television and he said to me first thing, "Lindsey Graham is being an asshole to Sotomayor". This is the same husband who had to learn the hard way over 35 years of marriage on how to treat women. He has learned well. It goes both ways. I treat him respectfully too. Anyway, I was already loaded for bear when I arrived.
The definition of a bully is as follows: "A person who is cruel to others, especially those who are weaker or have less power." It is clear that in this situation, Judge Sotomayor was the weaker person, because she basically has to just sit there and take it if she wants to be confirmed. It is also clear that Lindsey Graham saw an opportunity to get back at every judge that he ever went up against as an attorney as well as to plant a flag for his "base". In plain language, Lindsey Graham was a bully. Not only was Lindsey Graham a "bully" he was trying to be "Mean Daddy" to her. Every woman knows the patronizing and demeaning feeling you get when a man takes a "Mean Daddy" tone with her. Nothing raises hackles more except outright sexual comments or advances.
I am here to tell you that I think that this exchange will hurt Lindsey Graham in the future. Not tomorrow, and maybe not next year, but it will hurt him. It also hurts the Republican Party because they are not only being a Party of Racists, they are becoming a party of Sexists too. Women do not like it when a woman seems to be getting "beat up" on by a man. Women also don't like it if they are being patronized. If they align with ol' Lindsey, they will all pay at the ballot box.