Who Is The Embarrassment Again?

Millions of women held a March on Washington all over the world Saturday, even in exotic, faraway places like Antarctica and Augusta, Georgia. The marches were nominally about womens’ rights, but supporters of any gender or cause were welcome to share the camaraderie and unity of opposing the Trump presidency and making the world a more just and safe place, except for pro-life women, who were disinvited.

The Womens’ Marches On Washington were held to “…send a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights,” and a laundry list of grievances real and imagined. Gloria Steinem was there. Madonna said some stupid things. But not everyone was pleased. Our own Jessica Syzlagi, for instance, described it as partisan and anti-Trump, and wrote that while “Many women marched Saturday, but many weren’t marching for me.”

One who did march, though, was Amanda Stone of Augusta, whose motive was reported by the AJC: “I understand that many women did not feel that the Women’s March represented them but I encourage you to read the Mission and Vision Statement of the Women’s March so that you will at least understand why so many women worldwide marched yesterday. There were so many various reasons why people marched yesterday, I am almost certain that you could have found some common ground with the marchers. And, let me say again….Love Thy Neighbor.”

Straightforward stuff, and not hard to understand. Ms. Stone, like every other woman in America, has an absolute right to protest, march, and otherwise speak her mind.

But former TEA party activist and Trump supporter Debbie Dooley would like to punish Ms. Stone’s husband because his wife spoke her mind. Ms. Stone’s husband, State Senator Jesse Stone, is a Republican and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He should step down, in order to prevent “…the left from using his wife’s activity to cause embarrassment to the GOP or undermine the advancement of Republican principles.”

She’s right to be concerned. Republican principles stopped advancing in Cleveland last July, and we’ve suffered a series of embarrassments ever since. The most embarrassing part isn’t so much our party’s nominee himself, but his lickspittle supporters scared that a President Trump has been undermined by a bunch of women wearing vagina hats.

Like it or not, President Trump or not, this is still America and our Constitution still has a First Amendment. That does not embarrass any real Republicans in the party, whatever remains of it.