Big news, as Mitt Romney boldly backs up President Obama's stance that women should be allowed to join the Augusta National Golf Club:
Romney: "If I were a member and if I could run Augusta, which isn't likely to happen, but of course I'd have women in Augusta."
— @SarahH_CBSNJ via HootSuite
See there? Republicans aren't anti-women at all! Mitt thinks that if it were up to him, he'd probably let women in the super-secret club for menfolk, but it's not gonna be up to him, but hey, he's thinking about you in spirit, ladies!
This all started because of this:
The issue of the membership of the club that hosts most prestigious golf tournament is being scrutinized because the top executive at IBM, Ginni Rometty, is a woman.
IBM's sponsorship of the Masters tournament guarantees club membership for its officers, but the club does not allow women to join.
... which pits the Republican love of people with craploads of money and corporate power against the Republican love for old white fogies to be treated better than anyone else and to keep the womenfolks in their place. So you can see the challenge.
Will Mitt get in trouble with his base for this? Will he follow it up with, "Well, if I was in charge of these things, I would be totally fine with women getting to make medical decisions for themselves, but like hell that'll ever happen." Will the Augusta National Club reach a compromise, in which women are allowed to join, but must wear burkas at all times so as to not angry up the blood of the menfolks?
My God, it's 2012, and the entire presidential campaign is threatening to turn into a referendum on whether or not women should be allowed to use birth control if their employers don't like it, and just how many states are going to institute requirements that women undergo mandatory transvaginal ultrasounds because the menfolk want to do a little more slut-shaming, and whether or not the religious sensibilities of tired old supposedly-celibate coots should hold more sway over American women than the clear opinions and established rights of women themselves, but hey, here's a little light at the end of the tunnel, Mitt Romney says women ought to be able to join a men-only golf club! You, know, if it was up to him! Which it's not!
Yeah, cherish this moment, women of America. He's meeting you halfway here.
