What a weird year this is shaping up to be. We’ve already talked about Rubio’s boots, so I guess we can focus a little attention on [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] a). being from Canada, and b). sort of suggesting that voters should “spank” Hillary for her role in Benghazi.
Let’s start with the Canada thing. Almost all the experts agree that this isn’t a constitutional problem for Cruz. But it might be a political problem. Even if nobody buys the notion that this is a legal disqualification, it does provide Donald Trump, who trails Cruz in Iowa, an opportunity to try to otherize Cruz. It’s a reminder that he’s Cuban and was born in Canada. If we’re talking about that (and thinking about that) it’s a win for Trump.
I also find it weird that this storyline has already been fictionalized, to some degree. I’m reminded of the King of the Hill episode where Hank Hill discovers he was born in New York City (instead of Texas). Even more apropos, however, was the 30 Rock episode where Jack Donaghy’s wife Avery goes into labor while visiting Canada:
Avery: No, we can’t go to a hospital. This is Canada! If she’s born here…
Jack: Good God! She’ll be Canadian.
…
Avery: Oh my God, Jack. If our child is born here she can’t be President!
Jack: Don’t even say it! We’re having an American, and she WILL be President, no matter how ridiculous that sentence sounds.
Avery: If only we were in Kenya right now, we’d be fine. [laughs]
Life imitates art.
Now, let’s talk about spanking. This is a term that gets bandied about from time to time. You might even say that the Green Bay Packers “spanked” the Washington Redskins last night. But if I were writing a speech for a male candidate who was running against a female candidate, I would probably edit that line out. Just me, or does it sound a little BDSMy? (Likewise, if I were a white Southern politician, I probably wouldn’t go around talking about how “We’re gonna whip [insert name of an African-American candidate].”)
It sounded discordant to me. But we’re starting to hear things like this more and more. There’s always plausible deniability, because these are common expressions. Are these dog whistles? Are they just trolling us? Or does this just demonstrate that I either have a dirty mind–or am too politically correct?
We report, you decide.