Monday, June 8, 2015

UPDATED 19/6: Answer to "What's wrong with this picture?"

Walt apologizes for being so discombobulated by the ramifications of the wall-to-wall coverage of the Jenner non-story that he forgot to answer the question posed in the headline of the previous post.

Rather than just say "everything", let me quote a couple of sentences from "the Murphy Brown speech" given on 19 May 1992 by Dan Quayle. Remember him? Mr. Quayle was Vice President under Bush I. The lamestream media enjoyed teasing him about being unable to spell potatoes [potatos? Ed.] and other things. They suggested that he was somewhat shallow, that there wasn't a whole lot between his ears, and that he was incapable of uttering a coherent thought that wasn't written for him by someone else.

Speaking at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Vice President Quayle (as he then was) criticized the Murphy Brown character for "ignoring the importance of fathers by birthing a child alone". I don't think it matters who wrote the speech. It contains a lot of wisdom about the weakening of the American family, and consequently American society. Check this out excerpt.

When family fails, society fails. The anarchy and lack of structure in our inner cities are a testament to how quickly civilization falls apart when the family foundation crashes. Children need love and discipline; they need mothers and fathers. A welfare check is not a husband, the state is not a father. It is from parents that children learn how to behave in society. It is from parents, above all, that children come to understand values and themselves as men and women, mothers and fathers. And for those who are concerned about children growing up in poverty, we should know this - marriage is probably the best anti-poverty program of all.

Three months later, at the Republican convention -- the one at which Pat Buchanan made his celebrated speech (see previous post) -- Vice President Quayle took up the theme again. He said:

Americans try to raise their children to understand right and wrong, only to be told that every so-called "lifestyle alternative" is morally acceptable. That is wrong. The gap between us and our opponents is a cultural divide. It is not just a difference between being conservative and liberal; it is a difference between fighting for what's right and refusing to see what's wrong.

And that, gentle reader, is what's wrong with the picture of "Caitlyn" Jenner. God created men and women. From that time until the day before yesterday -- figuratively speaking -- you didn't have a choice. You were one or the other. Period. A man couldn't suddenly decide he'd like to be a woman and have his "lifestyle alternative choice" validated, even applauded by right-thinking people. Changing your sex is wrong. Period.

Footnote and further reading:
It must be hard for Dan Quayle not to say "I told you so." It took twenty years, but pundits analyzing what's wrong with America finally started to admit that the Veep nailed it. See:
"Washington Post Admits Dan Quayle was Right about Murphy Brown and Unmarried Moms" (Western Journalism, 29/5/12) and
"Obama Should Admit That Dan Quayle Had It Right" (Investors.com, 22/2/13)

UPDATE: Further reading: "Race and gender: I feel therefore I am", by one of Walt's favourites, Margaret Wente, in the Globe and Mail 19/6/2015.

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