Whores. Bitches. Fucking... Without those words you just couldn't talk about about the Manitoba provincial election today.
Well... you could have. But it would have taken some effort.
For you see today a candidate for the Manitoba Liberal Party, Jamie Hall, had some old sexist tweets sent to the media and he responded to them. Want the details? Want more drama in your life? Want to have a slightly better understanding of what I'm blogging about? Then take a look below, and better yet actually read the CBC.ca article that has more details.
Twitter's great for having things taken out of context but from what the CBC article dug up it there's some fishy stuff there. I mean, those tweets above are awful. Like even the comedy part is awful let alone the needless "whore" references". The book seems weird to me, too, but then again.... I haven't read it. I'm not going to go into further detail on this since I just don't know the details but Hall appeared before reporters today and faced some tough questions. Watch:
Meanwhile, NDP's star candidate Wab Kinew's own use of sexist language drew attention as the Liberals pointed out that the pot was calling the kettle black. Apparently, while he was a rapper, around the same time as Hall's tweets, he called women "bitches" and "whores". This was when he was 30 and an admin at the U of W.
But that of course is different than Hall's tweets because.... well because Kinew changed his ways and started speaking up about MMIW and wrote down his apology in a book that he wrote before he started trying to be a politician. Well, either that or he knew it was going to be a problem and would-be politicians need to get image manicures every so often. I'm going to embed a bunch of tweets (there's like twenty) below because I think it raises some good points. The tweeter is conservative but if you comment on this please deal with the arguments not personal attacks.
#1: “I would also like to apologize for misogynistic rap lyrics I have written or performed in the past...— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
I thought it was funny or had shock value.”— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
At face value this reads like a political response to a “gotcha” gaffe. But reading deeper is deeply troubling.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
As a 30 year old man, Wab Kinew thought beating woman was funny and good for shock value. Not a stupid 14 year old. A 30 year old father.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
#2 : “I spent part of my life as an angry and self-centred young man.” This implies Wab Kinew is no longer self-centred.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
That’s bullshit.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
Every ambitious, smart politician I have ever met is very self centered. And I don’t say this as a pejorative.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
A degree of self centered narcissism is necessary quality to pursue one’s vision in elected office.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
It’s not a bad thing. I share this attribute. But I believe Wab is being dishonest in saying “self-centred” in the past tense— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
Which brings us to his rap career. I believe Wab is being less than honest in his apology.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
Which isn’t to say that I believe that Wab is a misogynist. I do not believe that. I do not believe that Wab has ever hated women— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
I do not believe that Wab has ever believed that beating women is funny.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
What I do believe is that Wab is an extremely intelligent person.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
And that the only way Wab could create a brand for himself is with some street cred.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
So Wab, like other entertainers from comfortable upbringings before him, saw fit to degrade women to raise his profile.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
That is truly shameful.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
This demonstrates that like Jamie Hall, Wab believes it is ok to use violence against women as a personal vehicle…— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
…until that vehicle is no longer convenient.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
If Wab was in fact a misogynist in 2012 as 30 yr old University of Winnipeg employee, I do not buy for a minute that he isn't one in 2016.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
But I don’t believe Wab was a misogynist in 2012. I believe he thought it was convenient for him at the time.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
And that in 2016 he has no regrets.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
It’s been a truly disappointing day for MLP, NDP, Wab Kinew and Rana Bokhari.— Dave(!) Shorr (@daveshorr) March 3, 2016
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I have more thoughts on this and want to do it justice in wrapping it up so I'll finish this up tomorrow. Til then, thank you for reading (and possibly getting pissed off, since this is a contentious topic).
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