Should We Talk About This?

This being McCain's comment about his wife in the past, the one where he supposedly called her a trollop and a cunt. Atrios links to a video (full of the word "cunt") which points out that the media is not discussing this comment even when discussing McCain's recent attempts to appeal to women voters. In comparison, Obama's "sweetie" comment was discussed fairly extensively.

The reason for the media silence on McCain's blunder may be in the difficulty of mentioning that word on television or on radio. Or in something else. I'm not sure.

There are hidden shoals in any attempt to exploit this against McCain. For one thing, it would require wide-spread use of the word "cunt", and such use attacks women, even if indirectly. Then there's the problem of exploiting McCain's statements as something party-dependent. All that's needed for that to crumble is that someone finds something similar expressed by a famous Democratic politician. Or more simply: It would sound as if women are asked to choose between being called "a sweetie" or "a cunt", and it would also trivialize the sexism as something only wingnuts are guilty of in this country.

I think McCain's votes are enough to nail him, but I'm willing to be convinced otherwise.