Lexington Herald Leader Logo

No way to cure female problems; Paul not immune from presidential fever | Lexington Herald Leader

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • All News
    • Business
    • Communities
    • Counties
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Lexington
    • Local
    • Most Wanted
    • Nation/World
    • News Photos
    • News Videos
    • Politics
    • Searchable Databases
    • State
    • Watchdog
    • Columns
    • Tom Eblen
    • All Sports
    • UK Sports
    • College Sports
    • Next Cats Recruiting
    • High School
    • Horses
    • Kentucky Speedway
    • Lexington Legends
    • Reds
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • NASCAR
    • NFL
    • Sports Photos
    • Sports Videos
    • Columns
    • John Clay's Columns
    • Mark Story
    • Next Cats Recruiting
    • All UK Sports
    • Next Cats Recruiting
    • Baseball
    • Basketball - Men
    • Basketball - Women
    • Recruiting
    • Ex-Cats
    • Football
    • UK Photos
    • UK Videos
    • More UK Sports
    • Columns
    • John Clay's Blog
    • Mark Story
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • All Entertainment
    • Books
    • Celebrities
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Events Calendar
    • Horoscopes
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Restaurants
    • Stage & Dance
    • TV
    • Visual Arts
    • Entertainment Photos
    • Entertainment Videos
    • News Blogs
    • Kentucky Weather
    • Photo Archive
    • Sports Blogs
    • John Clay's Blog
    • High School
    • UK Football
    • UK Men's Basketball
    • UK Women's Basketball
    • Lexington Legends
    • Entertainment Blogs
    • Walter Tunis on Music
    • All Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Joel Pett
    • Letters to the Editor
    • National Columnists
    • Op-Ed
    • Submit a Letter
    • All Living
    • Celebrations
    • Family
    • Fashion
    • Food & Drink
    • Fru-Gal: Deb Morris
    • Health & Medicine
    • Home & Garden
    • Paul Prather
    • Religion
    • Travel
    • Readers' Choice
    • Kentucky Obituaries
    • Obituaries in the News
    • Submit an Obituary
    • Customer Service
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • E-edition
    • Page Reprints
    • Photo Reprints
    • RSS Feeds
    • Special Sections
    • Site Information
    • Advertise With Us
    • Archives
    • Mobile
    • Mobile Apps & eReaders
    • Newsletters
    • Social
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Google+
    • Today's Circulars
    • Classifieds
    • Jobs
    • Cars
    • Homes
    • Homeseller
    • Legal Notices
  • Place an Ad
  • Mobile & Apps

Editorials

No way to cure female problems; Paul not immune from presidential fever

    ORDER REPRINT →

January 29, 2014 12:00 AM

We can only hope Sen. Rand Paul is planning a run for president; otherwise, we'd have to look for another way to explain his bizarre comments over the weekend about women, Republicans, Democrats and former President Bill Clinton.

There have been many, many examples of the strange fever that overtakes people when they begin to pair their own names with terms like "commander in chief" and "leader of the free world." And there's no reason to believe that Paul, who has proved he loves attention more than almost anything, could be immune from it.

Nonetheless, his reaching back almost 20 years to the relationship between then-President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky during her 1995-96 White House internship, to make a point about how Democrats and Republicans view women, bears examination.

The Clinton/Lewinsky affair, or whatever it was, is certainly indefensible, as Paul says.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Lexington Herald-Leader

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

However, to extrapolate from that to the attitude of the entire Democratic Party toward women, or how women will fare under a future, possibly female, Democratic president, is simply silly.

The private actions of one individual, no matter how reprehensible, can't be used to dismiss an organization or institution with which that person is associated.

If that were the case, there would be no organized religion, no college sports, no political parties of any kind, no military services or academies, no newspapers and no Congress.

The list is truly endless.

Beyond that, the argument rests on the juvenile premise that in finding fault with an opponent one somehow becomes more admirable. If my opponent is a jerk then I can't be. Sadly, they can both be jerks.

But the critical issue in talking about public policy isn't which party has the most jerks — that would be a tough competition — but which has the best programs.

And that's why the Republicans, or at least this one R, needs to reach back almost 20 years to talk about Clinton's dalliance.

The GOP does have a female problem, one of its own making.

It's obsessed with controlling female reproduction, even fighting access to low-cost birth control under the Affordable Care Act.

Paul thinks protecting personal freedoms means keeping the government out of setting standards for toilets and light bulbs, but he has no problem with the government deciding whether a pregnancy should continue.

It's lame at best on fighting workplace discrimination and unequal pay and on protecting women from assault, either in the home or the military.

These are all issues that affect how women live their lives and support themselves and their families. They matter today, and they will matter in 2016.

Individual women can, and will, weigh whether these public policy issues matter more than Bill Clinton's dreadful behavior almost 20 years ago. Paul shouldn't bet on the scales tilting in his favor.

  Comments  

Videos

President Trump’s attacks on the media are unprecedented

Mayoral candidate Ronnie Bastin: Opioids, school safety are priorities

View More Video

Trending Stories

9 things Kentucky teachers should know about the educator-proposed pension plan

February 21, 2019 12:44 PM

UK plans to turn Kennedy’s Bookstore site into parking, retail space. See the plan.

February 22, 2019 11:37 AM

Lake Cumberland hits second-highest elevation in history and is expected to keep rising

February 22, 2019 11:26 AM

Former UK student accused in death of 4-year-old boy appears in Lexington court on new charge

February 22, 2019 09:35 AM

Kentucky man pleads guilty to making child-porn videos with young victim

February 21, 2019 12:33 PM

Read Next

Editorials

More secrecy in how Kentucky doles out tax breaks to businesses? Lawmakers should say no.

By Herald-Leader editorial board

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 20, 2019 06:46 PM

The Bevin administration’s quest to shroud economic development giveaways in even more secrecy is an insult to the Kentucky taxpayers who foot the bills. The legislature has a duty to scrutinize the costs and benefits of these deals. And the public has a right to know the details.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Lexington Herald-Leader

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE EDITORIALS

Lawmakers should say ‘no’ to corporate money grab by Kentucky American Water

Editorials

Lawmakers should say ‘no’ to corporate money grab by Kentucky American Water

February 19, 2019 07:20 PM
Kentucky Senate rolls over for NRA

Editorials

Kentucky Senate rolls over for NRA

February 15, 2019 07:49 PM
Choo choo. Kentucky Senate out to railroad solar energy into monopoly control by electrical utilities

Editorials

Choo choo. Kentucky Senate out to railroad solar energy into monopoly control by electrical utilities

February 12, 2019 08:00 PM
McConnell is preaching states’ rights, sounds as if he’s scared of voters

Editorials

McConnell is preaching states’ rights, sounds as if he’s scared of voters

February 02, 2019 01:58 PM

Editorials

Yes to more sunlight on lobbying, no to private school tax credits

January 31, 2019 07:46 PM
Stivers out to turn chief justice into judge shopper for governor, legislature.

Editorials

Stivers out to turn chief justice into judge shopper for governor, legislature.

January 25, 2019 09:13 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Lexington Herald Leader App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Place a Classified Ad
  • Local Deals
  • Digital Solutions
  • Media Kit
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story