Rand Paul showed his sexist colors on Feb. 1 when he?shushed a female reporter, scolded her, and told her?to “calm down.”
Here is the great thing about Libertarian politicians: They don’t pander very well. So eventually they will say exactly what they think of women and?people of color.
Here is the bad thing about Libertarian politicians: They are almost always white men, and they honestly believe?that they are superior to most women and people of color. And they have very little patience with those who they consider inferior.
On Monday Rand Paul, king of the Libertarians, gave us a very instructive demonstration of exactly how a Libertarian treats someone that he considers inferior.
During an interview with Kelly Evans,?co-host of “The Closing Bell”?on CNBC, Paul showed as little respect as he could without ?mooning the camera. He ostentatiously yawned during her questions, cut her off repeatedly when she tried to limit his pontification with follow-up questions, lectured her on journalism as well as economics, and literally put his finger to his mouth and shushed her.
Just so we are all clear about what happened here; Evans is not a spokesmodel. She is the former economics reporter for the Wall Street Journal and worked for CNBC in London before accepting the prestigious co-anchor position on what is arguably?one of the most important financial shows in the world. And Rand Paul, well, he is?a former eye doctor who has a well-documented propensity for plagiarism and for making shit up as he goes along.
And now let’s allow what he did to sink in for a second. He actually treated her like an unruly know-it-all middle school student and shushed her on live television. Imagine him doing that to Evan’s co-host, Bob Pisani. Imagine him doing it to any male journalist. You can’t, can you? That is because he wouldn’t do it.
Evans was not?questioning Rand Paul aggressively. She was simply interrupting his pat stump speeches to get as much information out of him in the brief time of a television segment.
After shushing, Paul went on to scold Evans, telling her that her assumptions were false and that she was creating “bad TV.”
This wasn’t a politician lobbying for better interviews. This was a good ol’ boy who didn’t like being challenged, and by someone he considered unworthy. She was asking grad-school questions and he was giving grade-school answers. He was defensive, and he was angry that Evans made him feel that way.
Women are routinely silenced when we enter a man’s world.?But generally?the person attempting to put us in our place wears a polite smile and uses politically sensitive rhetoric. Rarely is it done so obviously and with?so little concern for consequences.
And I suppose we should be grateful to Paul. It is almost refreshing to have someone authentic enough in his sexism that he can’t bring himself to pander to the voting block labeled “Women.” He isn’t telling us that he respects us while simultaneously trying to keep us from exercising bodily autonomy.
Rand Paul just?comes right out and shushes?women who get a little too uppity with him.?He?lets his sexist flag fly – with pride and the weary smugness of those who never question their own superiority.
