As though Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen’s remarks about Ann Romney—wife of Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney—were not enough to damage Democratic hopes of securing the women’s vote this fall, the president of the National Organization for Women jumped in last night to give new life to the idea that stay at home moms should not have a voice in politics.

Only a few days after Rosen said repeatedly to various media outlets that Mrs. Romney had “never worked a day in her life”—setting of a firestorm of criticism from Republicans and many Democrats—NOW President Terry O’Neill appeared on MSNBC’s The Ed Show Thursday night to pour more gasoline on the fire.

If Rosen’s remarks were not enough of a red flag for women that Democrats separate women into two classes of drastically different value, O’Neill’s comments should serve to make the point clear:

TERRY O’NEILL: What would we be saying if Hillary Clinton had said this: that Ann Romney has never, has not worked for pay outside the home a day in her life?  That’s my understanding that’s an accurate statement, and that raises the exact issue that Hilary Rosen was trying to get to, which is do Mr. & Mrs. Romney have the kind of life experience and if not, the imagination, to really understand what most American families are going through right now? I think that that was what Hilary was getting out, and so she left out the words “for pay outside the home.”

At Hot Air Friday, conservative blogger Ed Morrissey writes:

Once again, we get to see the professional Left’s utter disdain for women who chose to stay home with their children rather than work in the workplace.  Do they also lack “life experience” and “imagination”?  Are their political and economic views also irrelevant?

Are the remarks made by Rosen and O’Neill really that far removed from those that might be made by that creature they claim to abhor, the Neanderthal male?

By stating that by choosing to care for her family Mrs. Romney does not have the “life experience” or “the imagination” to understand what is important to Americans, these faux feminists ironically echo a sour sentiment in common with the least evolved men in society, the one that assigns no value to the tasks involved in raising children and managing households.

By their words, Rosen and O’Neill have implicitly portrayed Mrs. Romney as the worst kind of misogynistic stereotype, a worthless woman who spends her days lounging on the sofa, bon-bons clutched in one hand, the television remote in the other. The attempt to silence or minimize her voice comes off like the barked command of a greasy tee-shirted Stanley Kowalski, an order to a chattel wife to get back in the house and mind her own business.

It may be that the modern left-wing feminist has lapsed into this knee-jerk reaction out of desperation. The policies of Democrats are resulting in far fewer new jobs for women than men, one reason that the majority of small business startups are begun by women. But when enterprising women try to take control of their own future, the businesses they build are forced to hack through a thicket of red tape and regulation and many do not succeed.

Are those the issues Rosen and O’Neill feel Mrs. Romney does not understand?

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