According to Fox News Serious Person Brit Hume, we wouldn’t be so offended by Chris Christie if we weren’t such pussies.
HUME: “In this sort of feminized atmosphere in which we exist today, guys who are masculine and muscular like that in their private conduct, kind of old-fashioned tough guys, run some risks.” [...]
“Men today have learned the lesson the hard way that if you act like kind of an old-fashioned guy’s guy, you’re in constant danger of slipping out and saying something that’s going to get you in trouble and make you look like a sexist or make you look like you seem thuggish or whatever. That’s the atmosphere in which he operates. This guy is very much an old-fashioned masculine, muscular guy, and there are political risks associated with that. Maybe it shouldn’t be, but that’s how it is.”
Aw shucks. Can’t boys be boys and manly men be manly men? Can’t we shut down a highway for political purposes, leading to the death of an elderly woman in need of medical attention, or delaying the search for a missing child, without being called out on it?
Can’t we grossly misuse the power and authority of our office, dole out wedgies on a whim, and a punch a few hippies without someone making a big stink out of it?
As noted racist and self-certified genius Eric Bolling would put it, this represents the “wussification” of America. You know, in the same way that not allowing teenagers to bully each other into suicide does.
To use their terminology, the real pussies are men like Chris Christie and Brit Hume who believe they shouldn’t have to take responsibility for themselves when they act like assholes. They’re certainly old-fashioned, but they aren’t tough. Tough would be admitting that you’re a disgusting puke and taking steps to be less of an intense jagoff.
I don’t mean to imply that the war against misogynistic, Mad Men bro-culture has been won or that it’s over — it clearly isn’t — but Brit Hume and his ilk recognize that they’re losing and it makes them furious.