Hateful Conservative Alert: Streiff and "Whiny Little Girls"

You can always tell when a movement conservative is upset. Their favorite tactic when cut to the quick is to question the manhood and "toughness" of their opponent. Hence, we see Strieff at Red Maryland referring to our Comptroller as a "whiny little girl" for his opposition to slot machine gambling.

In the conservative mind, the non-conservative, particularly the vocal one, is not only wrong, but effeminate. Of course, it is assumed that someone who "whines like a little girl" has no place in politics. Indeed, the desire of conservatives to "feminize" their opponents is widespread, see Anne Coulter's comments on John Edwards, the constant chorus of "cut and run" we heard months ago, and now our current example. One needs look no further than John McCain and Mitt Romney to see the GOP inverse of strong man worship. John McCain will follow Osama to hell. Romney will bomb Iran into dust.

To be fair, in the past Red Maryland has written kindly of the Comptroller, though only because in him they see a chance for a primary challenge to O'Malley from the left, possibly creating a chance for a Republican to creep back into the Governor's Mansion. When Franchot turns his guns on a pet Republican proposal, all bets are off and the rush to call a state official a "whiny little girl."

I have certainly written my share of angry posts (cursing and all), but I cannot recall a time when I felt it necessary to denigrate a political opponent in such a grade-school manner. Even when I claimed that folks at "Red Maryland had their heads up their asses", I didn't stoop so low. I can assume that folks at Red Maryland do have heads and do have asses. A rather common phrase meant to imply that someone is wrong. Streiff is doing more than implying the Comptroller is wrong, he is implying he is weak, childish, and not up to do the important mens' work of politics. Its a more loaded term, and conservatives use it knowingly and effectively.

Rather than examine the worth of the Comptroller's words, they dismiss them through petty insult.

In Strieff's post we see a common feature of the American Conservative, the desire to feminize any and all opponents, particularly those who speak the loudest in opposition to their party's goals. At best, it is desperately comical. At worst, it is offensive and derogatory.