Darn you, Obama! Darn you to heck!
Okay. Pretty much every single “binders of women” joke has already been done — so why not just pile the hell on? I never claimed to be original or anything. If you want original humor, dig up Andy Kaufman.
If you saw the second Presidential debate — and I know you did — you were, like me, struck by several things. First, those two men really dislike each other. Second, as FOX News angrily reported, the moderator, CNN reporter Candy Crowley, proved that she was firmly in the Obama camp by pointing out a blatant falsehood made by Mitt Romney on the subject of Libya. Shame on her! Shame!
The argument was about when was the first time that Obama called the Benghazi attack an “act of terrorism.” Obama said that he had used the term in a Rose Garden speech the day after the attack and Romney said that he hadn’t used the term for several weeks. Crowley informed the crowd that Obama was correct, at which point everybody cheered and began hitting Romney with sticks.
I have drones. Do. Not. Fuck. With. Me.
At the time I was struck by an odd thought: “who cares?” I didn’t understand why this was especially important. It was a terrible, messy tragedy. Our embassy had been overrun, four Americans were dead and everything was in chaos. It seems quite forgivable if the Administration didn’t know what the fuck had happened for a couple of days, especially given that the attack was simultaneous with other protests over that goddamned anti-Muslim video. Maybe Romney was right to claim the attack was a sign that the Administration’s Middle Eastern policy was failing. But then he should have been arguing that, not over the date Obama used the word “terrorism.”
It depresses me that this is the level that the Presidential contest has sunk to. Nobody was debating the country’s ridiculous, self-destructive drug policy or whether it was sensible to use FLYING KILLER DEATH ROBOTS OF DOOM against people who disliked us. They were fighting over when the President first used a specific word to describe a really horrible event.
Wait. Was it “horrible” or “terrible”? Now I’m flip-flopping too. Please don’t tell Hannity.
Oh well. At least we got to hear Romney use the immortal phrase, “binders full of women.” Romney was saying that when he had been elected governor of Massachusetts he had been presented with an all-male cabinet, which he rejected because he wanted to include some women. Eventually he was brought the famous “binders full of women” to choose from, and he put lots of gals into his cabinet.
Personally, I find it difficult to muster much Liberal Outrage over this particular statement either. It was awkwardly expressed and vaguely condescending, but hardly a substantive gaffe. The phrase was, however, hilarious, and therefore I’ll be forever grateful to Mitt for coining it. Just last night I said to my wife, “Darling, you’re the only woman in MY binder!” and she punched me in the face. It was quite romantic.
Anyway, the debate was mildly entertaining as theater. The biggest takeaway from it was that Obama clearly wants to be reelected, so he was willing to properly prepare for this second debate after the drubbing he received in the last one. So maybe Chris Matthews can stop crying now, okay?
I'm Just Sayin' 