By ADRIANA COHEN
Democrats have long claimed to be the party of women -- a political party that wants women to have a "seat at the table" in boardrooms across industries, including access to top government jobs, and equal pay. They wear pussy hats at women's marches and carry signs touting various incarnations of inclusivity and "female empowerment."
There's only one problem: Freethinking women need not apply -- as the left only supports those who subscribe to its narrowly defined political ideology.
Take the left's unbridled attacks against women picked to serve in the Trump administration, including such respected professionals as Gina Haspel, a 33-year career veteran nominated to lead the CIA. Instead of applauding the president for empowering her by offering her a top job and top pay in government -- and the unique opportunity to break a glass ceiling and become the first woman in history to lead the venerable spy agency -- Democrats are obstructing her ascent.
Sen. Kamala Harris said she'll vote against Haspel because the highly qualified intelligence expert didn't condemn the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques used long ago as strongly as the California liberal would've liked during her Senate confirmation hearing this week. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio blasted Democrats' hypocrisy, tweeting, "Enhanced interrogation is banned by law. Treatment of Haspel example of egregious double standard. (John) Brennan was (No.) 4 official at CIA during interrogation program. He knew far more about it than Haspel did & most of dems still voted for him."
In addition to blocking Haspel's nomination, the left has been nothing short of venomous toward Education Secretary Betsy DeVos -- a champion of school choice, school vouchers and charter schools -- not to mention Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, an attorney who was berated and belittled by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey during her Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Booker characterized the national security expert as having "sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." Not surprisingly, anti-Trump CNN praised Booker for his "impassioned remarks."
Then there were the extreme put-downs of conservative women at the recent White House Correspondents' Association dinner, whose liberal host ridiculed press secretary Sarah Sanders' appearance, intelligence and integrity to her face on live TV. The so-called comedian also went after White House adviser Kellyanne Conway and Ivanka Trump, whom she said is "as helpful to women as an empty box of tampons."
So much for empowering women.
That notion is simply farcical, as progressives have proved throughout Trump's term that they only care about the advancement of women who vote Democratic -- to fuel their agenda and retain power.
Nothing more, nothing less.