Good Job Meghan McCain Taking A Courageus Stand

Meghan McCain is one of the conservatives (a more moderate conservative) saying no to racism within the Republican Party.

This is from a column on The Daily Beast Web site:

I understand that my place within the Young Republicans and the Republican Party is a controversial one, which is something I am still trying to get comfortable with. I am criticized almost daily for not being “conservative enough.” But the Republican Party needs to reach out to all kinds of voters. The last time I checked, most conservatives are already Republicans. It’s the independents that we need to sway. We need to make them believe we really do practice what we preached about less government, less spending, national security, etc, and we aren’t recruiting leaders who are old and out of touch. I am not saying I am that face, but Audra Shay certainly isn’t. She represents the same old stereotypes about “young Republicans”—apparently racist and more middle-aged than youthful. In short, disconnected from the real youth of this country.

This is from an article written by John Avlon of The Daily Beast:

On Wednesday, Shay—a 38-year-old Army veteran, mother, and event planner from Louisiana who has been endorsed by her governor, Bobby Jindal—was holding court on her Facebook page, initiating a political conversation by posting that “WalMart just signed a death warrant” by “endorsing Obama’s healthcare plan.” At 1:52, a friend named listed as Eric S. Piker, but whose personal page says his actual name is Eric Pike, wrote “It’s the government making us commies… can’t even smoke in my damn car… whats next they going to issue toilet paper once a month… tell us how to wipe our asses…”

Two minutes later, Piker posted again saying “Obama Bin Lauden [sic] is the new terrorist… Muslim is on there side [sic]… need to take this country back from all of these mad coons… and illegals.”

Eight minutes after that, at 2:02, Shay weighed in on Piker’s comments: “You tell em Eric! lol.”

More on the topic at The Daily Beast:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-06/new-gop-racist-headache/

Meghan McCain Is A Little Misguided About Double Standard Argument

As many of you may know, I actually like Meghan McCain and think she is good for Republicans (if they would be smart enough and follow the lead of her and other moderates in the party). That being said, I kind of shook my head in a bit of disappointment when I read the following comments (among others in a recent blog) from Meghan on a post at The Daily Beast.

However, there seems to be such an aggressive double standard for Republican women as opposed to Democrat women. Would David Letterman ever make such a joke about President Obama’s daughters (or for that matter Al Gore’s, or substitute another high-profile Democrat politician)? President Obama’s daughter Malia is not much younger than Willow, and I am certain that David Letterman would never make a joke about Malia being raped by Eliot Spitzer or refer to the first lady as looking “slutty.” Why is it funny to make fun of a 14-year-old girl, no matter who her mother is, let alone that of one of the most prominent female politicians in the country?

Meghan’s dad, Sen. John McCain, made a very nasty comment about Chelsea Clinton and the Clinton family (that included an attack on former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno) 11 years ago. It’s a shame Meghan McCain dragged President Obama’s daughter into the discussion, but I suppose it should not be a big surprise. Children of presidents and prominent politicians have been attacked in the past (even though Republicans try to act like Sarah Palin’s daughter is the first victim ever).

Remember this from a Republican dinner in June 1998:

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno.

Wasn’t that (in addition to a shot at Chelsea Clinton) a sexist slam against Janet Reno who, apparently, did not fit Sen. McCain’s vision of what a woman is supposed to look like?