Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) made quite a strong statement Sunday about the so-called “Republican War on Women” and the double standards by which the sexual escapades of both Parties are reported by the media.
Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press, Paul said, “One of the workplace laws and rules that I think are good is that bosses shouldn't prey on young interns in their office. And I think really the media seems to have given President Clinton a pass on this” (video follows with transcript commentary, relevant section begins at 2:41):
SENATOR RAND PAUL (R-KENTUCKY): Well, you know, I think we have a lot of debates in Washington that get dumbed-down and are used for political purposes. This whole sort of War on Women thing, I'm scratching my head because if there was a war on women, I think they won. You know, the women in my family are incredibly successful. I have a niece at Cornell Vet school and 85 percent of the young people there are women. In law school, 60 percent are women. In med school, 55 percent. My younger sister is an ob-gyn with six kids and doing great. You know, I don't see so much that women are downtrodden. I see women rising up and doing great things. In fact, I worry about our young men sometimes because I think the women really are out-competing the men in our world.
DAVID GREGORY, HOST: But my question about whether you think it's appropriate for the Party, key figures in the Party to be talking about women, women's health, women's bodies and the role of the federal government related to those things.
PAUL: I try never to have discussions of anatomy unless I'm at a medical conference. But what I would say is that we didn't start this sort of, I think, glossy and sometimes dumbed-down debate about, you know, there being a war on women. I think the facts show that women are doing very well, have come a long way, and, you know, like I say, I have a lot of successful women in my family and I don't hear them saying, “Oh woe is me, this terrible, you know, misogynist world.”
They look out and they're conquering the world. The women in my family are doing great, and that's what I see in all the statistics coming out. I have, you know, young women in my office that are the leading intellectual lights of our office. So I don't really see this, that there's some sort of war that's, you know, keeping women down. I see women doing great, and I think we should extol that success and not dumb it down into a political campaign that somehow one party doesn't like women or that. And I think that's what's happened. It's all been for political purposes.
Gregory then read a snippet of a Vogue magazine piece referring to Paul’s wife Kelly claiming that Bill Clinton’s escapades with Monica Lewinsky should complicate his return to the White House even as a spouse. Gregory asked his guest if such issues were fair game if Hillary runs in 2016:
PAUL: You know, I mean the Democrats, one of their big issues is they've concocted and said Republicans are committing a War on Women. One of the workplace laws and rules that I think are good is that bosses shouldn't prey on young interns in their office. And I think really the media seems to have given President Clinton a pass on this. He took advantage of a girl that was 20 years old and an intern in his office. There is no excuse for that. And that is predatory behavior, and it should be, it should be something we shouldn't want to associate with people who would take advantage of a young girl in his office.
This isn't having an affair. I mean, this isn't me saying he's, “Oh, he’s had an affair. We shouldn't talk to him.” Someone who takes advantage of a young girl in their office? I mean, really. And then they have the gall to stand up and say Republicans are having a War on Women? So, yes, I think it's a factor. Now, it's not Hillary's fault.
GREGORY: And, but it should be an issue…
PAUL: But it is a factor in judging Bill Clinton in history.
GREGORY: Right, but is it something Hillary Clinton should be judged on if she were a candidate in 2016?
PAUL: No, I'm not saying that. This is with regard to the Clintons, and sometimes it's hard to separate one from the other. But I would say that with regard to his place in history, that it certainly is a discussion, and I think in my state, you know, people tend to sort of frown upon that. We wouldn't be, you know, if there were someone in my community who did that, they would be socially, we would disassociate from somebody who would take advantage of a young woman in the workplace.
Interesting comparison to today's Clinton-loving media who praise him as the greatest political figure alive in the world today and her as the de facto next president.
