Women Impacting the Nation, or WIN, is a bunch of conservative ladies who want to, you know, impact the nation. On April 19 in Boca, Allen West told them how to do it: Raise strong men.
"...what made the Spartan men strong," said West:
it was the Spartan women. Because the Spartan women at the age of 9 gave up their male sons. And their male sons went into a training that was called the Agoge, and they stayed in that training for the next 11 to 12 years. And when they finally qualified, when they were finally ready to join the ranks of the Spartan army, it was not their father who gave them their cloak and their shield. It was their mother who gave them their shield. And when the Spartan mother gave that young Spartan warrior his shield, she gave him this basic commandment: "Spartan, here is your shield. Come back wearing this shield or being borne upon it."
When Queen Gorgo, wife of King Leonidas, was questioned by the Persian emissary and she spoke somewhat out of turn to this Persian emissary, he tried to rebuke her. And she looked at him and said: "Persian, beware, for it is Spartan women who raise Spartan men."
...What once was that powerful image of an American president, that great seal, the Oval Office, the center of strength and might, has now become a joke, a caricature, and a place of weakness. And therefore, we find ourselves in the situation in which we're in in the United States of America. And see, if we're truly going to have strong men that will go up on Capitol Hill -- and I'll tell you, it's great to have strong women, but you need to have strong men in this nation, there's no doubt about it -- it's going to take each and every one of you supporting men.
From the above excerpt, I think it's apparent that Allen West is dangerously overexposed. Although his policy of making himself continually available to the American people is admirable -- West is
ubiquitous on TV and on talk radio, and during his frequent trips from Washington, he addresses his constituents almost daily -- he is not nearly smart enough to give coherent extemporaneous speeches every time he leaves the house.
If he'd had more than ten minutes to think about
it, West probably would have realized that his riff about Spartan mothers was a little less than empowering. Given some reflection, West might also have realized that it's the American father, not the American mother, in need of a good pep talk about child-rearing.
But Allen West didn't have more than ten minutes. West continued speaking, as he is wont to do (see below), and segued ungracefully into his usual schtick about the importance of hitting the streets, getting out there, and standing up for something. Then he returned to the subject of gender, saying:
The women in our campaign printed up shirts that said "Women for West." That's what we need you to do. We need you to come in and lock shields to strengthen up the men that will go into the fight for you -- to let these other women know, on the other side, these Planned Parenthood women, these Code Pink women, and all of these women that have been neutering American men and bringing us to the point of this incredible weakness -- to let them know that we are not going to have our men become subservient... That's what we need you to do. Because if we don't, then the debt will continue to grow.This is as hateful as it is stupid. It is not the mission of Code Pink to grow the debt, and the left-of-center half of America is not trying to enslave the right-of-center half. If we were, the right-of-center half would have every right to murder us on sight. That is what you do with people who mean to enslave you, especially if you are a warrior.
This wasn't discussed, but it didn't have to be. West's words are not meant to be thought about. They are meant to be applauded. The crowd obliged on this occasion, but it was a small crowd. If West keeps talking and if America retains the capacity for any introspection at all, the crowds will remain small and get smaller.
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