Ouch! Bedtime With Doug
By Reg Green
We all know the media cover the alleged misdeeds of public figures
differently depending on who they are. This is how the BBC reported one by the would-be first gentleman:
Earlier this month, reports surfaced about an extramarital affair Mr Emhoff had in his previous marriage.
“During my first marriage, Kerstin and I went through some tough times on account of my actions,” he said in a statement, appearing to acknowledge the report. “I took responsibility and, in the years since, we worked through things as a family and have come out stronger on the other side.”
Everyone behaved in a thoroughly gentlemanly way, you see, except that the unfortunate woman is said to have been his children’s nanny, that he got her pregnant and, from an unidentified source, a vague comment that she ‘did not keep the baby.’ She, naturally, is now overwhelmed by becoming the focus of worldwide publicity.
Anyone who expected a chorus of outrage from feminist groups about powerful men supposedly taking advantage of women under their protection cannot have been reading the script. As with Bill Clinton, whatever the rights and wrongs of the individual case, politics comes before women’s rights — by a long way.
One of the virtues of free speech, however, is that even the littlest people can ridicule the biggest in ways that scrub off all the cosmetics.
Donald Trump, you’ll remember, was said to have the morals of an alley cat. Now, another phrase comes in useful: “Don’t poke the help.”