The devil wears pretty

By Patrice Greanville

The devil may wear Prada, sometimes, but it almost always wears a pretty face.  Fools the masses more easily that way.  I’m referring, of course, to the battalions of Republican women whose looks remind us more of Barbie dolls, beauty queens, models or tv announcers than political operatives for the vilest political party ever to disgrace this benighted land. (Male specimens also abound of this political disease.)

Boundless ambition and a sense of entitlement, a sociopathic lack of moral principles and compassion, and a flat, self-complacent intellect characterize them. And plenty of hypocrisy, the indispensable career glue for any run-of-the-mill American politician or public figure. 

For under those movie-star looks and gleaming, multimillion-dollar smiles, beats the great contradiction: a heart largely devoid of kindness, a moral flaw these people sport (or brag about) among their peers with the  banal abandon of someone insulated from real criticism, let alone introspection. Meanwhile, the corporate courtesan media, alternatively cowardly, dull, or outright celebratory of such types, shows no intellectual curiosity to even broach these subjects. 

Well, let’s face it: It’s probably a class question.  We’re talking about the face of privilege or good fortune, a golden journey that usually starts with a big win on the genetic and birth lottery.  Regarding that cold heart, just check the addendum story and video below.  It speaks volumes about why these people deserve public rebuke and opprobrium instead of praise and admiration.

A case in point

In the astral sweepstakes, and for sheer internal ugliness, few specimens crawling up the stinking, greasy pole of American power can hold a candle to Sarah Steelman, an eager-beaver Republican purebred who served as Missouri State Treasurer from 2005 to 2009, then tried for Governor (and thankfully failed) and is currently stumping around the state in a run for the US Senate.  Her pedigree in the GOP mob is impeccable: Steelman is the second wife of David Steelman, a former Republican Leader in the Missouri House. Her father, John Hearne, is a senior partner in the Jefferson City law firm of Hearne and Green. And her father-in-law is the late Dorman Steelman, a former chairman of the Missouri Republican Party.

But here’s a truly frightening newsbit guaranteed to send chills up and down the spine of any thinking American:  The New York Times cited her as among the seventeen women most likely to become the first female President of the United States.

Who said that the outside envelope—plus connections— didn’t help?

Patrice Greanville is The Greanville Post‘s editor in chief.

ADDENDUM

Sarah Steelman, John Brunner Battle Over Farm Animal Ad In Missouri Senate Race
The Huffington Post  |  By Michael McAuliff

A pair of Missouri Republican Senate candidates are in something of a barnyard fight over an ad that accuses one of them of donating to a farm animal rights group. The candidate, businessman John Brunner, calls the ad an attack on his family because the donation really came from his daughter.

The ad, aired by the campaign of state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, accuses Brunner of giving $10,000 to an “extreme animal rights group that was founded to give farm animals rights.”

The spot goes on to say that the group, the Humane Farming Association, worries about the animals’ feelings, and asks, “What’s next, therapy?”

It then segues without warning to Steelman saying she opposes partial-birth abortion and gay marriage and that she “love[s] to hunt.”
WATCH the ad:

Brunner hammered the ad Monday, saying Steelman was taking pot shots at his family. His problem, his campaign said in a statement, is that the donation actually came from his daughter, Ginny Becker.

According to the campaign, the Brunner household’s Christmas tradition is to donate to military families through the Brunner family foundation. But some years the kids have been allowed to choose their own charity, and once Becker chose Humane Farming, which says its goals are “to protect farm animals from cruelty and abuse, to protect the public from the misuse of antibiotics, hormones, and other chemicals used on factory farms, and to protect the environment from the impacts of industrialized animal factories.”

Brunner’s campaign didn’t quibble over the Steelman camp’s description of the group, but did release a statement from Becker owning up to the donation. “My charitable donation has nothing to do with a political race, and in my opinion, there are more significant issues to discuss today,” Becker said.

Brunner’s campaign wants Steelman to pull the ad and apologize.

“The latest ad from Sarah Steelman is a despicable attack on John Brunner’s family and is completely outside the bounds of a political campaign,” said Brunner spokesman Todd Abrajano. “Sarah Steelman should be ashamed of herself for putting this ad on the air and I call on her to apologize to John Brunner’s family immediately.”

Steelman’s campaign on Monday showed no signs of doing so.

UPDATE: 4:15 p.m. — The Steelman campaign stood by its charge that Brunner and his wife tried to aid farm animals, sending along the Brunner Foundation’s 990 report to the IRS from 2008, when the donation was made. The report shows that Brunner and his wife are the only trustees, and that they gave away $359,000 in 2008. Much went to educational, religious and veterans’ institutions, but the Brunners did appear to care about animal welfare, also donating to the Humane Society of Missouri and the St. Louis Zoo.

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