Carly Fiorina: just another Republican

I believe, as do others, that our government might work better if more women comprised it. Granting that not all male members of Congress are as thoroughly useless as Ted Cruz, James Inhofe, or that supreme jackass (and the competition is stiff for that title) Louis Gohmert, the "willingness to play well with others" quotient, not to mention the intelligence, of the average member of Congress still might increase if there were more female legislators. A female President would be fascinating and perhaps good for the nation as well.

Carly Fiorina ran for the Senate in 2010 but was defeated (the Senate got a California woman anyway in the form of Barbara Boxer). Now Fiorina is making noises about seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

So, huzzahs all 'round? Well, maybe not.

Fiorina bashed Apple CEO Tim Cook for his Washington Post opinion piece opposing Indiana's RFRA bill. Nothing wrong with disagreeing with Cook — unless your rhetoric is as dishonest as Fiorina's.

"When Tim Cook is upset about all the places that he does business because of the way they treat gays and women, he needs to withdraw from 90% of the markets that he's in, including China and Saudi Arabia," she said. "But I don't hear him being upset about that."

So because Apple does business with China and Saudi Arabia, it's okay for Indiana to adopt policies that open the door for discrimination against non-heterosexuals. Um, yeah. And Cook didn't threaten to "withdraw" Apple from Indiana anyway. Nice way to distort his actual position.

Then there's her take on the criticism of the Indiana RFRA legislation generally:

"I think this is a ginned-up controversy by people who play identity politics that has divided the nation in a way that is really unhelpful," Fiorina said.

Fiorina disingenuously ignores the stated rationale for the law (and for others like it pending in other states). Strongly devout believers, mostly Christians, are seeking legal sanction for their discrimination under the theory that their religion demands it. The ones playing "identity politics" are those who want to elevate their right to "express" their religious belief above the right of others to be treated as ... human beings. An identity as religious believers is treated as more important than the dignity of non-heterosexuals, even though the context isn't houses of worship but places of business.

Ms. Fiorina, you fell back on tired, superficial, and worst of all, simply inadequate GOP talking points. One of the things I look for from female candidates is a fresh perspective and a certain amount of thoughtfulness that many male candidates don't display. You failed to bring those qualities to the table in your disdainful criticism of Tim Cook. Your answer, in short, was no more worth hearing than the answers given by the declared or likely male Republican presidential candidates.

Government might work better with more women, but you, Carly Fiorina, haven't showed that you'd be an improvement.