Heather Wilhelm warns at National Review Online that we’ll soon be hearing a lot more complaints about sexism, thanks to the Hillary Clinton campaign for president.
Say what you will about Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, but it’s done a heck of a job of feeding various ideological hobgoblins across the United States. Some will fade away after November 8; others, alas, will quickly shoot up some proverbial post-election steroids and haunt us with madcap vigor for years to come. When it comes to pure staying power, however, I’d cast my chips on one hobgoblin in particular, no matter who wins the election. That would be the “sexism is everywhere” trope, long beloved by the Left.
Let’s not kid ourselves: Any of this year’s GOP hopefuls would have faced a barrage of accusations of sexism, misogyny, and general monstrous behavior when running against Hillary Clinton. Even if Donald Trump had not decided to take the GOP on his own tawdry, NC-17 version of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride — numerous women have lined up to accuse him of sexual assault, and his Access Hollywood comments bragging about doing just that still light up the press — there would still have been talk of “the sexism inherent in all that interrupting” (that’s from the Washington Post) and the woes of “debating while female” (that’s NPR).
The only Republican presidential hopeful who might have dodged this, in fact, was Carly Fiorina, since she is, after all, a woman — but even then, I’m not so sure. Who knows? Maybe her stance against Planned Parenthood would be rendered “sexist.” Maybe she would have made the fatal mistake of referencing something bone-chilling and horrifying, like, say, “binders full of women.”
But enough with the alternate histories: The GOP nominated Donald Trump, he of “grab them by the you-know-what” infamy, and here we are, and it’s almost over except for the crying — and, of course, the rise of a new, improved, never-say-die “sexism is everywhere” narrative.
