Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, who should know better, was caught by an open mic yesterday making demonstrably false statements — Sarah Palin is “no genius,” for example.
Rendell also said that Arizona Governor and Homeland Security Secretary-nominee Janet Napolitano is perfect for the job because she has no family, “no life” and can devote “literally 19, 20 hours a day” to it. CNN’s Campbell Brown took umbrage because, she said, Rendell’s comment was sexist:
It may be personally insulting and impolite for Rendell to point out that Napolitano “has no life,” but sexist? No.
Brown also seems to believe that nobody mentioned Napolitano’s predecessors’ personal lives and suggests that the reason is because they were men. Actually, Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff’s personal lives went unnoticed because they had traditional families. Men without traditional family lives haven’t gone unmentioned:
Like other aspects of his life, the unmarried Souter’s social activities resemble those of an 18th century gentleman, when an unmarried relative was often the backbone of the community, with the leisure to do what those with children did not have time for. Like Henry Higgins, Souter may be happiest spending “his evenings in the silence of his room; ((in)) an atmosphere as restful as an undiscovered tomb.”
There are a lot of reasons people have discussed Justice Souter’s status as a confirmed bachelor. None of them have to do with the fact that he’s a woman.
There’s plenty of sexism in the world. CNN obviously wanted as many excuses as possible to play the embarassing Rendell clip, but it ought to find an excuse that doesn’t involve falsely accusing him of gender bias.
Are you calling J. Souter a Mo, Man? Say it aint so.