A foreign policy adviser to Mitt Romney on Friday called President Obama’s foreign policy “limp wristed.”
Former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton employed the term, usually used as a slur against or allusion to gay men, to describe the Obama administration’s response to the attacks in Libya earlier this month:
Quote:
The US is viewed under Obama as weak, as Sen. McCain said, as declining in influence dramatically in the Middle East, pulling out of Iraq, intending to pull out of Aghanistan, having a limp wristed reaction to the assassination of four American diplomats.
Though he is frequently and prominent featured on Fox News, Bolton often acts as a surrogate for the Romney campaign, hosting numerous events for the GOP candidate. After Bolton endorsed Romney in January of 2012, the former Massachusetts candidate said, “John has been a staunch defender of U.S. interests and values, both while he was in and out of government … I look forward to consulting with him as we campaign to restore America’s standing abroad and ensure that this century is an American Century.”
Don't even give me that. Limp-wristedness is associated with homosexuality. Period.
By saying he used it as a synonym for "weakness," you're referring to homosexuals as "weak."
I for one don't associate a "limp wrist" with homosexuality. I agree that they just meant "weak".
To say that it was a direct slight against homosexuals is going to far.
Don't even give me that. Limp-wristedness is associated with homosexuality. Period.
By saying he used it as a synonym for "weakness," you're referring to homosexuals as "weak."
Yes, the term is used to refer to being "weak", "wimpy", a "pansy" whatever. It's picked up a frequent usage to refer to gay men, but it's never been exclusive to them only.
Does it have homophobic undertones to it? Yes.
Is he saying it because he's like, "I think gays are weak, let me use this phrase specifically to tear them down"? No.
As much as I hate Romney and his campaign, this is reaching. Limp-wristed is, by definition, means "weak" or "effeminate" and while it is sometimes associated with gay men, it is not always used in that sense, especially in the political sphere. Given the context of what Bolton was talking about and the fact that he was making a point of how "weak" the US's reputation has been under Obama (regardless of whether he was right or not), it's unfair to say he was intentionally using it as a gay slur. It's used very commonly to mean just "weak," despite the word's and the Romney campaign's anti-gay undertones.
