September 13, 2014 9:51 AM

Better to be thought a fool than to be Todd Kincannon supporting violence against women

THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

(apologies to Keith Olbermann)

Todd Kincannon

I’ve had some unpleasant Twitter interactions with Todd Kincannon, the former head of South Carolina’s Republican Party. It would be easy to pass Kincannon off as just another authoritarian, angry, hateful, intolerant misogynist. He’s every bit of all that, but he’s also proof that freedom of speech means freedom of ignorant and offensive speech…and our right to call him out for it.

In a time when this nation is in dire need of healing, when we truly need to deal with the problem of violence against women, Kincannon represents a segment of the Far Right that considers women to be the rightful property of men, and that women who disobey their men deserve whatever they get. His tweet stands on its own, and there’s nothing I can add to illuminate his ignorance and misogyny better than his own words.

Kincannon isn’t alone in his hatred of women (and anyone else not “enlightened” enough to be a White, Christian, Conservative, Republican male). He’s just not smart enough to understand that his words brand him as both ignorant and intolerant. Or perhaps he just doesn’t care and is really only interested in drawing attention to himself.

Oh…and he’s a Christian. Unfortunately, his God is one no loving and compassion person would recognize:

The American God. The God that flies the American flag in heaven. The God that is not on welfare. The God that loves capitalism. The God that loves guns. The God that loves football. The God that only goes to mega-churches. The God that has no time or remorse for the poor. The God that checks the collection plate regularly. The God that rules the vagina. The God that enables the penis. The God that hates immigrants. The God that enforces the border. The God that supports people like George Zimmerman and Darren Wilson. The God that would drive a military tank in riot gear to put down a local protest. The God that would ship jobs overseas. The God that doesn’t want to pay any taxes. The God that only wants certain others to pay all taxes. The God that has an offshore account. The God that likes to ration healthcare based on class. The God that hates Michael Sam, Sandra Fluke and anyone named Obama. The God that listens to Rush Limbaugh and watches Fox News. The God that loves the political color of White. The God that is the political color of White. You know, that God.

One could be forgiven for thinking that in the 21st century Americans would agree universally that violence against women is abhorrent and intolerable. Once could also be forgiven for erring on the side of giving the benefit of the doubt…and then having a troll like Kincannon prove them wrong.

Women are not property. Their existence is not dictated by, nor does it hinge upon, maintaing the goodwill and obeying the dictates of the man in their life. Women do not exist solely for the sexual pleasure and edification of men, nor is their primary responsibility to maintain a home life that makes their man’s life pleasant and agreeable. Women have every right to live free of violence and misogyny. They have every right to live their lives as they see fit, just as any man does. I find it puzzling that Kincannon and those who think like him can with no trace of irony believe that having a penis bestows upon them God-ordained dominion over women. There are those who argue that Ray Rice had every right to protect himself from an aggressive, violent woman, that he was justified in “standing up” for himself. Except that if you watch the most recent video, as I have several times, that’s not at all what happened. Not even close.

The good thing about this sad saga is that it’s brought the tragedy that is domestic violence out into the open and sparked a national discussion. The bad thing is that it’s revealed far too many men who feel that women bring it upon themselves, and that they deserve what they get. They fail to recognize that they don’t own women, that no one deserves to be assaulted and beaten to the point of unconsciousness. Period. People like Todd Kincannon should rightly be held up to well-earned ridicule. I say that not because I mean to enforce some sort of political correctness, but because the rights of women matter.

Unless we begin teaching our children that hitting a woman is wrong, no matter what the circumstances, we’ll continually need to address the consequences of violence and anger directed at women. Janay Palmer was neither the first nor the last victim. Fortunately for her, she survived. Ray Rice is not Rae Carruth, a wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers who murdered the woman carrying his child.

Until we expose people like Todd Kincannon for the hateful troglodytes and misogynists they are, we’ll continue to wonder why men keep beating the women they supposedly love. Until we make it clear that as a society we’ll henceforth have a ZERO TOLERANCE policy towards abusers, people like Kincannon will continue to view women as property who need to be knocked around once in awhile in order to remind them who’s boss.

It’s time we made it clear that no woman should have to fear the man in her life, and that no woman should feels her only option is to stay with someone who abuses her.

We’re better than this…aren’t we?

blog comments powered by Disqus

Technorati

Technorati search

» Blogs that link here

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on September 13, 2014 9:51 AM.

Hitting a child is never the answer to a problem was the previous entry in this blog.

A message for the American Taliban is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

Contact Me

Powered by Movable Type 6.0.2