by JOHN ESKOW
Caitlyn Jenner, then known as Bruce Jenner in 2013 (left) and in 2015 (right) PHOTO/Page Six
I believe it was Shakespeare who said “a dick by any other gender is still a dick,” and now we have Caitlyn-formerly-Bruce Jenner to “live out her truth” and prove it. Celebrated for her “courage” by no less a moral arbiter than ESPN itself, lionized even by Diane Sawyer, the slow-witted ex-Olympian–who of course has absolutely no idea what true courage it takes to survive one day of homelessness in America—has created a sad little furor by telling her girlfriends on TV that those bums on the street, those war veterans and street kids and whatnot, don’t want to work because they’re too happy getting government handouts.
Well, penises come and penises go, but bad taste is timeless, I guess. While she revels in her expensive new state-of-the-art breasts, the Marie Antoinette of transgenders has done us all a favor by revealing just how shallow, venal and corrupt her kind of “courage” really is, and how gullible the media figures who celebrate her.
First came the long, breathless wait to see what Bruce Jenner would look like when he was miraculously transformed into a woman named Caitlyn. When the moment finally arrived, the caterpillar-to-butterfly metamorphosis produced a breathtaking vision–which looked exactly like Bruce Jenner, with fake breasts, in a dress.
This was, as Tom Brady might say, slightly deflating. But for TV and social media it was a virtual second coming. Athletes who dared to criticize ESPN for honoring the rich and privileged Jenner over more deserving candidates were hounded and mocked as transphobic haters.
And then Jenner finally opened her surgically-enhanced lips, and what came oozing out was the politics of identity in its purest form.
First, he told Diane Sawyer, his new BFF, that he didn’t like Obama except for one single thing–and guess what that might be!–“He was the first to say ‘transgender,’ I give him credit for that, but I’m not a big fan, I’m more on the conservative side. ”
This seemed to completely astonish Sawyer–but it’s hard to see why, after countless Republican politicians have been outed as cross-dressers; Jenner is building on a long and rich tradition there, and it’s fun to imagine her trading fashion and make-up tips with J. Edgar Hoover.
But Jenner knocking Obama was pretty thin stuff, and very few people–outside of his immediate family, and MSNBC–care to defend Obama anymore, so there was a tiny hubbub about it, and it fizzled quickly.
Then came the bizarre coronation on ESPN, with the stage-managed standing ovations. No “haters” allowed! The king is dead, long live the queen! Of course, Queen Cait could barely deliver her scripted words of inspiration–she didn’t seem to have read them beforehand–but social media was deeply moved.
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