December 1, 2014 9:02 AM

Republicans are people, too- mean, nasty, hateful, self-righteous people

THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

(apologies to Keith Olbermann)

Elizabeth Lauten

Twitter is still in attack mode after the communications director for Tennessee Congressman Stephen Fincher decided she’d take to Facebook and insult sixteen-year-old Malia, and thirteen-year-old Sasha Obama, seemingly for no other reason tha[n] GOP sport…. “Try showing a little class” Elizabeth Lauten attacked the girls. “At least respect the part you play.”…. I would suggest Ms. Lauten…follow her own advice. How abjectly devoid of class is it for an adult to insult teenage girls on social media? You’re the communications director for a three-term U.S. Congressman Ms. Lauten. At least respect the part you play. If I were her boss, she’d be looking for work this morning.

I understand that certain segments of society feel the First Family is public property and therefore fair game. What they fail to recognize is that when it comes to the families of Presidents, children didn’t ask for the political life; they’re not public figures in the way their parents are. Teenagers aren’t equipped to handle the rough-and-tumble and often mean-spirited language than comes with being in public life, especially when that life is in the White House. If you’ve ever been around teenagers, you know the damage words can do. That those words too often come from people with children of their own is beyond reprehensible.

Sadly, there are some Republicans who feel emboldened to take any shot at the Obama family they can. If that means insulting Sasha and Malia if for no other reason than they can…well, it’s their fault for putting themselves in the line of fire, knowhutimean? Except that I can think of few things more nakedly partisan and more thoroughly mean-spirited than the Internet version of verbal vomit Lauten directed at the Obama girls, whose “crime” was being teenagers at the White House turkey pardoning ceremony.

So Lauten wants to talk about “showing a little class?” She could start by taking a good, long look in the mirror. What she’d see is someone so thoroughly devoid of class and decency that she’d attack a 13- and 16-year-old girl just to score a few cheap political points. I wonder how she’d feel if the tables were turned and her daughters were the ones being attacked?

I can’t help but wonder if she would have done the same thing to Barbara and Jenna Bush, neither of whom were known for being paragons of staid propriety while in the public eye.

Move along, people; no double standard here….

To her credit, Lauten apologized…but the damage had already been done. The question now is whether her employer, Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-TN), will recognize her to be a political liability and fire her. Fincher is just the sort of firebrand Teapublican who hates Barack Obama enough to think that anything, even a cheap shot at his daughters, is fair game. Does he condone or endorse Lauten’s vile, mean-sprited attack on the Obama children? The jury’s still out….

There’s an argument to be made for forgiveness, and I can see some merit in that, but the flip side is that this sort of thing has happened so often that a reasonable person might wonder if it isn’t an actual strategy. Drop a bomb, do the damage, apologize, and walk away with a clear conscience. It might seem cynical to suspect that, but given what Republicans have subjected the Obamas to over the past six years, I think it’s a question worth asking. There’s an element on the Far Right who hate the President and the First Lady Just. That. Much. Taking a cheap shot at their daughters would be fair game to them because their hatred blinds them to anything resembling simple human decency.

I can only hope she was sincere in her mea culpa…but Twitter was not nearly so sanguine about Lauten’s mean-spirited faux pas.

What you see below is but a small sample of the Twitterverse’s reaction. Most of it was not nearly so reserved and kind.

Presidential children should be off limits. There’s absolutely no humane reason to be publicly humiliating children whose only “crime” is being the offspring of a President. It’s difficult enough to come of age in the White House (like the Bush twins nailed it, right?), and there’s no political advantage to be gained by beating up on the President’s kids. Unless, of course, you WANT to portray yourself as a clueless, mean-spirited jackass lacking even the barest shred of kindness and human decency.

Should Lauten lose her job for her classless rant? I think there’s a case to be made for it, but even more than that, I’m interested in how Rep. Fincher reacts. Will he take action that shows he understands Presidential children are, and should be, off limits? Will he demonstrate an understanding that not everything is political? Or will he condone Lauten’s rant and toe the Teapublican line that believes anything that might hurt The Black Man in the White House © is fair game?

Your move, Congressman.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on December 1, 2014 9:02 AM.

When a 4-year-old shoots your 3-year-old son, you're NOT a responsible gun owner was the previous entry in this blog.

It's Monday, so why not a picture of a beagle astride a horse? is the next entry in this blog.

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