Here’s a fun juxtaposition:
The above screengrab, which comes via the Guardian, shows a headline whose entire premise is a malicious and already disproven lie. At the very bottom of the same photo is a plea for donations. Give the Guardian some money and they’ll keep producing this top-notch, primo content.
Thanks for the warning, fellas.
The Guardian article, titled “Is Paul Ryan scared of shoulders? The Republican dress code is straight out of The Handmaid’s Tale,” is based on a lie that was dismantled last week by reporters who actually cover the House of Representatives.
The dress code, which applies to the Speaker’s lobby only, is not new, nor was it crafted by GOP lawmakers. It has been around for decades, and its enforcement varies with who’s doing the enforcing. The only reason anyone is talking about the code now is because Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., is House Speaker and because members of the press who are not from Washington, D.C., apparently don’t know a damn thing about Congress.
Guardian columnist Hadley Freeman, however, goes well beyond being simply ignorant. Her op-ed Monday was outright malicious.
The fact that her article appeared days after U.S. journalists had already put this phony dress code narrative to rest shows she is not a good-faith actor. Freeman, who is herself an American, clearly has an axe to grind, and she is using the space given to her by the Guardian to work out whatever personal problems she has with Republicans.
Freeman’s attempt to keep the dress code lie alive is bad. Her comparing GOP lawmakers to theocratic rapists is just sad.
The worst (best?) part of this garbage column is the fact that the author disproves her entire premise while trying to get at her conclusion. Enjoy this masterful exercise in self-defeat:
[Y]es, there has always been a House dress code, which states, rather vaguely, that people should dress “appropriately”. What this means is left up to the House speaker. Step forward, one Paul Ryan! And yes, these rules have existed for over a decade, predating former speaker Nancy Pelosi. However, [IJR reporter Haley Byrd] said officers on patrol have been “cracking down on the dress code” recently. “I suspect the rules are being emphasised now that it’s summertime and excruciatingly hot outside and everyone is dressing for the weather,” she added. So this is about how much Republicans hate women and how much they hate journalists. Gosh, killing two birds with one stone is fun.
To be clear, Freeman concedes Ryan didn’t create the dress code and that he is not responsible for its content. But she goes ahead and accuses him of blatant sexism anyway. Sharp stuff.
Freeman’s column continued:
Indeed, Ryan recently took time out from his busy schedule of being a spineless Trump apologist to remind Congress of the importance of “appropriate business attire”, not bothering to explain (a) what this means, (b) why he’s so scared of shoulders and (c) why it’s totally appropriate for, say, Kellyanne Conway and Ivanka Trump to wear sleeveless dresses – their favourite style, incidentally – and still be, respectively, counselor to the president and apparent president-in-waiting.
It concludes in the next paragraph: “It is no surprise that this administration should find women’s shoulders so terrifyingly unacceptable.”
This is impressively disingenuous, and it goes well beyond merely ignorant. It’s vicious, nasty stuff.
Amazingly enough, Freeman attempted Monday afternoon to defend her trash column, claiming repeatedly that her story was not, in fact, a smoldering trash heap. You see, she argued, people just missed her point.
“Handy hint: try reading the article and not just the headline before you tweet the journalist. Have a nice day,” she tweeted.
Yeah, that’s it. People are just misunderstanding lines like, “We should never underestimate the Republicans’ multitasking abilities when it comes to treating women like sexualised chattel.”
What trash.
