The crude remark made May 28 by Rep. Becca Balint at her Newport town hall, to emphasize the dire economic impact of preventing migrants from entering this country, was as surprising as it was unfortunate, especially from a humanity perspective.
However, as Balint is the daughter of a working-class mother and immigrant father, she has always communicated with respect for the myriad contributions of immigrants to every sector of American life. For that reason alone, Pam Baker’s June 4 Herald commentary excoriating Balint caught my attention, as she all but suggested Balint be doused with Lysol. Turns out, Baker, a failed 2024 GOP candidate for the Windham-6 seat in the Vermont House of Representatives, is a persistent presence across Vermont media, touting the tired tropes and clamorous clichés of the standard Republican playbook.
Yet, while Baker and other GOP acolytes focus on the purported defects and deficiencies of Democrats — in particular, of Becca Balint — they remain in thrall to the atrocious autocrat Trump, the convicted felon who is the catalyst of catastrophes against thousands of fellow humans, here and abroad. Baker attempts to pin on Representative Balint the very crimes the MAGA-lamaniac-in-chief commits every single minute of every single day — persecuting immigrants, jeopardizing our democracy, criminalizing DEI initiatives, and stifling economic growth. All one has to do is a quick and cursory Google search to learn Baker’s actual agenda.
While I couldn’t care less about Baker, the issue for me is Balint’s handlers neglected to prevent or advise against — much less condone — Balint’s resorting to a crass cliché associating immigrants with abject servitude.
Balint is not the first woman in public office, let alone the first woman leader, to use coarse language to emphasize a point. She should have known better, but it’s important that voters understand politicians’ rationale for using passionate rhetoric to convey an urgent message, which seemed Balint’s intent, versus politicians who use strong language for shock value.
As for the latter, several years ago, when Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., was pursuing a presidential run, she held a rally at New York University during which her use of the “F-bomb” was so excessive that even the most-feminist, foul-mouthed women there — myself included — were cringing. Yet, in mainstream media interviews, Gillibrand cooed policy messages dripping with treacly wholesomeness about her being a mom, and her commercials drove home her “I’m a mom” mantra ad nauseam. Consequently, she projected as the phoniest of all phony politicians.
In contrast, U.S. Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Maxine Waters, both of whom frequently employ fiery rhetoric, have multitudes of supporters, most likely because they are viewed as authentic. And popular U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez often conveys her passion, especially where she feels the urgency of the situation warrants direct and unfiltered language.
Meanwhile, the verbal transgressions of female Republican politicians, such as Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Boebert, Kristi Noem, Elise Stefanik, to name but a furious few, are too egregious to cite in a family newspaper.
To be clear, any woman — public figure or not — who claims she has never used coarse or crude language in public to emphasize an important point, is either lying or should heed Hamlet’s mandate to “get thee to a nunnery.” But even nuns curse, especially when they don’t realize others can hear them.
Anyone with a mobile device, and an axe to grind, can become an enthusiastic content creator ready to brandish a harsh light. If said content creator also happens to be a Republican axe grinder whose run for public office was unsuccessful, then there’s no staunching the torrent of ranting and raving that will ensue.
That Representative Balint had a momentary lapse of judgment in describing with passion and frustration the enormous consequences to our country if we do not enable legal immigrants to thrive here, is understandable. Her supporters, myself among them, admire and are grateful for her leadership in the U.S. Congress, her values as a devoted wife and mother, and her background as a gifted teacher. No ingesting of Lysol is necessary, nor is the vicious vitriol being served up by the disgruntled opposition, regardless of how virtuous that vitriol may seem.
Liz DiMarco Weinmann lives in Rutland.
