Clarabell Award: The Vagina Monologues reach Michigan

Recently, I introduced the Clown Award, now re-dubbed the Clarabell Award, to be given to people or organization in cases where I thought they we just being phenomenally stupid. I thought it would be an occasional thing but I keep finding deserving recipients.

This time, it goes to the leadership of the Michigan state House of Representatives.

On Wednesday, that august body was debating a massive anti-abortion omnibus bill the leaders were trying to ram through. Rep. Lisa Brown spoke in opposition, noting that she is an observant Jew and that Jewish law requires that if a choice has to be made between the life of the fetus and the life of the mother, the life of the mother must be given precedence - and the proposed law allows for no such exception. She said "I'm not trying to force my religious beliefs on you, why are you trying to force yours on me?"

She then ended her statement by saying “Finally, Mr. Speaker, I’m flattered that you’re all so interested in my vagina, but ‘no’ means ‘no.’”

In response, Majority Floor Leader Jim Stamas gaveled her out of order and the deeply, deeply shocked Rep. Mike Callton called her statement “so offensive, I don’t even want to say it in front of women. I would not say that in mixed company.”

The next day, House leaders refused to allow her to speak on the House floor as punishment for having "disrupted the decorum of the House."

Brown said later that "I'd love to know what I said that was offensive. It was an anti-choice bill regarding abortion, which obviously involves a vagina, so, you know, I don't know what word I'm supposed to use otherwise."

Maybe she should have stuck with "unmentionable feminine nether regions." As for Reps. Stamas and Callton, I'd say they were stuck in the '50s except I'm not sure if that should refer to the decade or their IQs.

In either event, both they and the majority leadership of the Michigan House are clearly clowns.

Sources:
http://www.care2.com/causes/mi-gop-vagina-offensive-to-say-necessary-to-regulate.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/14/michigan-woman-lawmakers-silenced-_n_1598168.html