Over the last decade or so right-of-center types have made remarkable inroads into the world of popular culture. Almost every week it seems like a Brad Thor is releasing another best-seller, a Fox News is launching a show to compete with (and ultimately beat) leftist tripe like “The View,” and there’s a new culturally conservative film or political documentary earning a theatrical wide release.
Even television shows like “24: Live Another Day” seem designed to hit the sweet spot of the vast swath of Americans who did not vote for Barack Obama.
On talk radio, strong right-of-center voices like Adam Carolla and Dennis Miller bring a pop culture sensibility and cool to their very successful endeavors. Greg Gutfeld has even grabbed his own piece of Late Night with “RedEye.”
In no way am I arguing conservatives are anywhere near where they need to be. But we have certainly stormed the beach, gained a foothold, and are on the march.
One area in which we are thankfully not competing with the pop culture-Left is with the moral and social depravity aimed at women we disagree with.
Sunday night, in the latest episode of HBO’s “True Blood,” one of the series’ main characters attended a fictional Texas fundraiser for Senator Ted Cruz. While dressing like a southern Republican stereotype for the occasion, she looks in the mirror and refers to herself as a “Republi-cunt.”
Harsh, no question. But I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that the producers of “True Blood” attempted to sucker former-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin into appearing on the show.
We don’t know if the requested cameo was for this infamous “Republi-cunt” episode. Thankfully, Palin smelled a rat, so we’ll never know. Based on HBO’s hyper-partisan history and the unique context and storyline of this particular episode, it is perfectly reasonable to assume the network’s intent was to sweet talk Palin into humiliating herself as a “Republi-c*nt” in front of the whole wide world.
It is also safe to assume this because pop culture’s mean-spirited and degrading cruelty towards Republican women is now the norm, not the exception.
Time and again and again, we have seen conservative women demeaned, denigrated and humiliated with no consequence. The examples are almost too many to count, here are just a few:
In 2011, a government-sponsored radio show featured comedians mocking Michelle Malkin’s family.
In 2010, on Headline News, comedian Sandra Bernhard called Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol “a hooker.”
In 2009, David Letterman “joked” about Palin’s 14 year-old daughter getting “knocked up” at a Yankees game.
In 2011, Jimmy Fallon’s band played “Lyin’ Ass Bitch” as the intro music for guest Michelle Bachmann.
In late 2009, left-wing celebrity blogger went on a sustained rampage against “dumb bitch” Carrie Prejean in the most disgusting ways imaginable.
In 2010, comedian and television star Louis CK launched a Twitter rant against Sarah and Bristol Palin too ugly to try and describe. Funny or Die thought it was pretty awesome.
In 2009, Playboy Magazine daydreamed about the conservative they want to “hate-f*ck.“
Where to begin with Bill Maher.
This isn’t the political left, this is American mainstream pop culture repeatedly and without fear of consequence degrading women in ways unthinkable outside of prison support group for sexual deviants.
And now we have HBO apparently angling to lure Sarah Palin into a “True Blood” cameo just so they could figuratively pull her pants down in front of the world and literally label her a “Republi-cunt.”
Among the political right’s few allies in popular culture, this kind of behavior is unimaginable.
It would also be an instant career-killer.
If Greg Gutfeld suckered Nancy Pelosi into appearing on “Red Eye” so he could publicly humiliate and/or denigrate her, he’d lose his audience overnight. Same with Adam Carolla, Dennis Miller, or any right-of-center pop culture outlet. Gutfeld would never do that, though, because he’s a gentleman and a decent guy, which is one of the reasons he’s so successful.
Maybe this kind of behavior is a winning political tactic. Or maybe like the totalitarian gay left demanding we bake their wedding cakes and the fascist feminist left demanding we purchase their birth control, the left is so out of touch with reality in their media and pop culture bubbles, they have lost sight of simple, everyday common decency.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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