During a CNN Town Hall, presidential hopeful and former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper took a bold stance in the on-going fight for equal rights… for men. Hickenlooper, who prior to this I probably would’ve guessed was a Roald Dahl character, was asked by CNN’s Dana Bash if he’d consider gender parity when choosing a running mate, should he secure the nomination. It’s not a question that’s totally out of left field, what with rumors of Joe Biden running with Stacey Abrams and also the fact that it’s 2019 and, honestly, Geraldine Ferraro and Shirley Chisholm’s ghosts are tired of our B.S. “Some of your male competitors have vowed to put a woman on the ticket,” Bash said. “Yes or no: would you do the same?” Simple, right? LOL NOPE.
Hickenlooper paused (!) and then replied “Uh, of course… But I’ll ask you another question—” Here Bash interjected to remind him that he wasn’t the one asking questions. Hickenlooper is that guy who goes to a job interview and is like “Let me turn that question around to you. What are this company’s greatest weakness? Ah-ha! Bazinga!”
The politico proceeded to ask Bash, “How come we’re not asking, more often, the women, ‘Would you be willing to put a man on the ticket?’” FINALLY! Justice in our age!
John Hickenlooper wants to know why we’re going so easy on Kamala Harris and friends, a group of highly skilled politicians who are held to a completely different standard that is seemingly impossible to meet by design. Got it. Come to think of it, it is odd that no one has investigated whether Elizabeth Warren will give any man a chance or whether her administration will look like the ruling party of Themyscira. That is the story we need to be chasing down. Why don’t the women get asked about gender parity? Do we care about equality or not, people? Will a man ever get a chance to be vice president or are we stuck with Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and Robin Wright forever? Oh, and Glenn Close in Air Force One. So many women! It’s an epidemic!
You really must admire the glee with which Hickenlooper, a civil rights leader we can believe in, asks his question. It’s almost as if he knows he’s caught Dana Bash in a rhetorical trap like he’s Matlock in the last five minutes of a court trial. He’s like, “Interesting question about women but… let me ask you this… have you heard of… men?”
This is, honestly, the question we should be asking ourselves in this political season. Have we heard of men? Thankfully John Hickenlooper, a person who I’m told is different from the coffee guy also running for president, is here to lead us to freedom. Perhaps someday we’ll even have a male vice president and president. Can you imagine?