Republican Apologist/Conservative Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post is Horrified 22 (Count em 22) Women Object to an Honor for Laura Bush

Trying to Offset the Charge of the Republican War on Women (and Failing)

It has been a constant and probably irritating refrain of this Forum to protest the huge number of Conservative columnists employed by the Washington Post in order to curry favor with Republicans.  We no longer try to document the number of these partisans, there is just too many of them. 

A recent manufactured outrage comes from Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker.  She tries to refute the notion that Republicans have started a ‘war on women’ which they really did by enacting massive government interference in women’s health care by noting a miniscule attack on former first lady Laura Bush.

By now, most sentient Americans have heard about the war on women. That is, the Republican war on women, which has been framed as a battle waged by stodgy, old white guys who want to deny women reproductive freedom.

One can debate the validity of these claims, but for now, let’s give equal time to the other war on women.

So what is it that has so outraged Ms. Parker that she has to devote an entire column in a nationally renown newspaper.  What is it that she says is equal to the assault on women's rights?  It is this.

Twenty-two such women recently wrote a letter to the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum, protesting an award to be given to former first lady Laura Bush. The Alice Award, which honors a woman who has helped other women, previously has gone to Hillary Clinton, Katie Couric, Nancy Pelosi and Olympia Snowe.

Wow, 22 women wrote a letter.  In Ms. Parker’s mind this is equivalent of state legislatures requiring women to have ultra sound procedures, to be forced to read graphic literature and watch graphic videos and all sorts of other things regarding the most intimate components of their health care. 

One can certainly debate whether or not Laura Bush deserves recognition, Ms. Parker cites some actions that Mrs. Bush undertook that would warrant an award, and maybe Ms. Parker was equally eloquent in rebutting the far more ugly and pervasive attacks on Hilary Clinton when she was First Lady (probably not) but that is really not the point.  The point is that in a desperate attempt to counter the ugly intrusion of government into women’s private lives about the only thing Ms. Parker can do is to cite a letter written by 22 unknown and largely irrelevant women to protest an award.

If that’s the best you have Conservatives, maybe it’s better if you just say nothing at all.