Clinton Mentor: Hillary Failed To Master Female Approach

Recently, as New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigned in Eugene, her onetime friend and mentor Jean Houston was at home in her double geodesic dome, a style that is not out of place here in this town of theater lovers and spiritual seekers.

"I could have probably gone down to see her, and she would have hugged me and it would have been nice," said Houston, as she sat on a sofa surrounded by art from Bali and Greece in her circular living room. "I could have been very useful to her. But there would have been cameras, and they would have said, 'Oh, now, Hillary's so desperate, she's gone to the spiritualist.' "

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Beachrunner]

That's because she isn't one.

[OtayPanky]

OCCAM'S RAZOR APPLIED TO HILLARY'S FAILURE

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From Wikipedia: Occam's razor (sometimes spelled Ockham's razor) is a principle attributed to the 14th-century English logician and Franciscan friar William of Ockham. The principle states that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis or theory. The principle is often expressed in Latin as the lex parsimoniae ("law of parsimony" or "law of succinctness"): "entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem", or "entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity".

This is often paraphrased as "All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best." In other words, when multiple competing theories are equal in other respects, the principle recommends selecting the theory that introduces the fewest assumptions and postulates the fewest entities

===

So on the one hand you have Jean Houston's tortured archetype explanation - and on the other hand the simple, straightforward reasoning of Barbara Ehrenreich the other day on PuffHo. Here's the link:

http://tinyurl.com/3u8sob

We report, you decide. William of Occam would say go with Barbara's explanation, not Jean's.

[LivingStardust]

The reason why is simple. Hillary is a self-serving, egoistic, sociopath (like 80% of ALL politicians) before she is a woman. I bet she hasn't thought about her womanhood since she and Bill decided to have a child for the sake of political appearances.

[Beachrunner]

Through artificial insemination. Do you think Bill would actually, well, you know . . . with Hillary???

Not in a million years.

[MissingAmerica]

Personally, it has nothing to do with any failure to run as a woman; it's her failure to run as a loyal Democrat and a true American. She voted on the Iraq war, but I can forgive that as a lot of people were duped by the Bush camp. What lost me to her was her willingness to turn on her own party by, first, stating she and the Republican nominee were the only two qualified to lead this country, when clearly the Republican nominee has proven to be anything but a good choice for a new direction we so desperately need. Second, when it was discovered that her claims about her Bosnia trip were verifiably untrue, she attempted to deflect attention by bringing up the old distraction, once again going against her party.

She has turned into a GOP, and that is why she has lost my vote. If I had always been for Obama, and he had been the one to do this, he, too, would have lost my vote. It's about what is best for America, and I'm not so sure that Hillary is.

[Irons]

Hillary voted for the Iraq War, that's why she lost this race.

[obamagal]

Agreed, but the question is WHY did she vote for the Iraq War? [To appear tough, 'hawkish', willing and able to do a 'man's job'. Which is also, imo, the reason why she stuck to her guns on it.]

[KathyIndiana]

I agree, but would add another reason - her complete inability to deal with the unexpected. Before this campaign started Hillary and her team had game plans to deal with each of the possible presidential candidates. Since they were all well-known Washington people, the Clintons probably would have blown them out of the water early on. Obama, however, wasn't even on the radar screen at that point and when he came in and started winning, Team Hillary made one mistake after another trying to deal with him, and STILL haven't figured it out. Is this the kind of mentality I want in the White House? Sorry Hillary, we've had 8 years of total incompetence and I'm not ready for 4 more.

[RobertAndropolis]

Like DinOhio states below, I too found it incredulous that this candidate, Mrs. Clinton, took until NH to "find my voice." I could understand her not quite knowing herself if she was, say, a twenty-something...but she has thirty-five years of experience. And she's sixty-one fer chrissake!

I notice the spiritual-guidance-author Ms. Houston blithely brushes aside that since Mrs. Clinton has been under sniper fire for years, why then of course she might get confused reagards Tuzla. Instead of being an enabler to Mrs. Clinton's congenital lying, Ms. Houston might have honestly earned her money (and her reputation) by telling Mrs. Clinton that telling the truth is a good idea.

Spirituality and truth are axiomatic. Ms. Houston and her spiritual philosophy are full of sh*t.

[SharonB]

This woman said in the article that the time she spent helping the Clintons lead to the most traumatic time of her life. The list of people who can say that same thing is huge... they use people up and then throw away what is left.

[shengirl]

Exactly. The article says, when she was being vilified and ridiculed by the media as some sort of loony conducting seances, Hillary "did not exactly abandon her, but there was not much support." Join the club. The same thing happened with their friends from Arkansas who were financially wiped out paying for lawyers and had their good names trashed during the far-right hunt to "get Bill." Not a word of support from the Clintons. If you can't do them some good in their career climb, they forget all about you. With the Clintons, it's all about the Clintons.

[Krikkit]

I had the same reaction that you did, Sharon. I'm reminded that this is the effect that people with Narsicistic Personality Disorder often have on others' lives. Does any of this sound familiar:

"Individuals... have a grandiose sense of self-importance. They routinely overestimate their abilities and inflate their accomplishments, often appearing boastful and pretentious. They may blithely assume that others attribute the same value to their efforts and may be surprised when the praise they expect and feel they deserve is not forthcoming Often implicit in the inflated judgments of their own accompllishments is an underestimation(devaluation) of the contributions of others. They are often preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power... They may ruminate about "long overdue" admiration and privilege and compare themselves favorably with famous or privileged people."

The above is straight out of the DSM-IV description of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. To the above, add : "is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends; lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others; and shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes."

[missjabez]

That's our Hillary. Hillary is all about Hillary. I've know a couple of NPD's and they were the same way. It was always "I, I, I". And they never took responsibility. It was always somebody else's fault. What most got me about these two NPD pals of mine were their feelings of entitlement and their conviction that the ordinary rules did not apply to them. Yes, Hillary would fit right in with these self-absorbed gals.

[Beachrunner]

Truer words were never written. That's why the Clinton's have been called "tornadoes" for decades; they come in, destroy everything, then are gone before you know what's happened.

[janeadams]

Jimmy Carter on the Clintons: "They're always there when they need you."

[DinOhio]

I think the article shows a woman searching for herself - and she still appears to be doing so. Without comfort in knowing who she is, she'll change like a chameleon - this is Hillary's major flaw. She's not comfortable in who she is. Perhaps she's changed so many times, she doesn't even know. One of the mosts telling things about her was after NH she said she "found her voice". What the hell did that mean? Obama, on the other hand, seems perfectly comfortable and confident in who he is. It makes is easier to be upfront and truthful when one is confident about oneself. Hillary tried to create an image instead of having the confidence she should have had. I've constantly heard about what a wonderful and warm woman Hillary is from people who know her best. I have yet to see any of those traits in her. My question is why? Her authenticity just isn't there and she resorted to pulling out the lowest denominator in people instead of inspiring them. Her demise is both sad and deserved.

[missjabez]

I have always been turned off by Hillary's lack of femininity. She's tougher than a lot of men. A strong woman does not have to be brutal. Maybe she's trying to show she has "cojones", but frankly, I don't see why any woman would want "cojones", anyway.

[obamagal]

"A strong woman does not have to be brutal".

Therein lies the absolute truth, in a nutshell.

IMO Hillary has done a huge disservice to the feminist cause (and I say this as a female, white, 56 year old).

[Village]

What a crock. Hillary didn't fail as a woman. She failed to put forth a vision for her candidacy. She failed to inspire Americans. She failed as a candidate. If she had been a man, she still would have failed for the same reasons.

BTW This warrior, Hillary Clinton, that has come out explains the impeachment. Bill was so afraid to tell her about Monica, he lied. He didn't want that warrior wrath turned on him. WOW

[Teri]

once again she kicked a "friend" to the curb. from marian wright edelman to lannie guinier, this is why no one trusts her and why she is a loser....

[wheelskeepturning]

I have been watching both Hillary and Obama since the beginning of this campaign. Hillary has improved her delivery, her presence, her appearance and most of all the delivery of her message and experience to be able to lead this country. So far I have failed to see Obama deliver an inspiring or what I would call a truly original speach yet. He always hems and haws and acts like he can't find the words. Since he is a Harvard grad I find this hard to swallow. I think he is "dumbing down" his message so he doesn't sound too intelligent. People please think of the past, the distant and not too far past. We need someone with experience. It is not Obama.

[DinOhio]

At some point you stopped being rational and stopped listening. You hear what you wish to hear. How in the world can you support Hillary's racial dividing - is this leadership? Your comments just don't wash. Hillary throwing back a shot of whiskey is not "dumbing down"? C'mon.....

[WAstateliberal]

Wow, first Clinton supporters criticized his undeniably inspiring speeches as just words, and now they are suggesting he didn't make any inspiring speeches? You can support HRC over Obama without being ridiculous. You can support HRC while acknowledging that his speeches in Iowa, New Hampshire, MLK's church, and "A More Perfect Union" were some of the best political speeches that have been delivered in a generation. And if he looks like he is looking for the right words, it's because he is: He thinks before he speaks. Novel concept, I know. Perhaps if HRC thought before she spoke, she wouldn't have implied that the only valuable Americans are those who are white, did not work for a college degree, and are low income.

And if we need someone with "experience," why on earth are you supporting HRC? She has virtually none. Not even two full terms as a Senator, in which she has done NOTHING. And don't even cite to her First Lady tenure. That IS NOT experience.

By invoking "experience," and citing the past, you reveal that you are voting for Bill Clinton, with Hillary as his "get around the 22nd Amendment" puppet. I respect people who are supporting Hillary solely because she is a woman more than I respect the pathetic people who are supporting her because they want her husband to be president again. And if she had any self-respect, she would be aghast that the vast majority of her votes are Bill votes.

[marc1antony]

you are my hero of the day!!! ;0

[MizFlagPin]

Dag! What a hard-hitting, factual, on target post! Thanks for sharing your "logical" thoughts.

[Mewcatone]

Thank you so much!!!

[the964kid]

Looks like even at age 61, Hillary still doesn't know who she wants to be. Instead of trying to be like 'the boys' she would have been better being herself and at least being authentic. She is the victim of her own over analysis where Hillary's actions are the result of triangulation and not the result of natural and honest reflex. Maybe Hillary should have been listening to people like Houston, since this contest was Clinton's biggest stage, and she is now regarded by the majority of voters as dishonest and unauthentic. This perception is the result of Hillary's inability to find her own identity and her own voice. After 61 years you'd think Hillary had a clearer sense of herself. That all being said, let me now say: thank god Hillary didn't get this nomination - we can't have a president who has imaginary conversations with deceased people they didn't even know in life.

[MizFlagPin]

"Clinton has become mired in proving herself capable of emulating the male model, which requires combat and the demonization of enemies." --Clinton's Mentor
................................................................................................................

As women we have unique qualities that we can bring to leadership. To suppress these qualities sends a message that our uniqueness has no value. Thus, my previous comments that Hillary Clinton is a wannabe man. I called her such not so much as an insult but a push back, a protest of sort, because Hillary believes she cannot win by using her natural, God-given, feminine qualities. She presented to us a false woman who believes that in order to win the White House she is required to emmulate a man. That kind of thinking make having a first female president a moot point.

Once, I was a Hillary Clinton supporter until she failed to fully embrace her womanhood with pride and the unshakeable belief that we indeed have value.

Now, I'm Baracking my vote for a man who thinks inclusively . . . something Hillary should have done but failed to do as evidenced by her slicing and dicing Democratic voters.

[CatLadyforObama]

Barbara Ehrenreich of The Nation has a nice synopsis of Hillary's "gift" to women in her attempts to dispel myths about women

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080526/ehrenreich

[MizFlagPin]

I read the article. WOW. I agree wholeheartedly with Ehrenreich for another reason not addressed in her article which is:

Women are uniquely positioned to be the first teachers of the members of humanity. A very powerful position. If we want to change the dogged ways of those driven by testerone (sp?) then let us start changing that attitude starting with the baby in the cradle.

Women have been known as Sister Soldiers for centuries (fierce protectors of family and homeland). There's no need to prove our strength in a false, overt, manly fashion.

Thanks for sharing Cat Lady!

[Giglawyer]

Good luck to you and the rest of the "Sister SOldiers" in your attempt to influence the next generation of men away from their natural instincts.

[GreatFutureForAll]

Both Clintons had the African-American vote in their pocket. It was all locked up.

The great mystery for me will forever be why they decided to use the "race card" to go after Obama after New Hampshire (and they are still trying to use this card with Hillary's strange statement about white voters recently).

Did they think this was their only chance of winning? Did they think America was Arkansas of 1962? Were they trying to make this 1965 all over again, trying to split the country so that they could win the spoils of hate, a weird game of divide and conquer?

Is this why they (very mistakenly) felt so confident about North Carolina and Indiana? Did they think that both states were stuck in the sixties?

Most African-Americans were NOT supportive of Obama when the campaign started this year. THEY LOVED THE CLINTONS.

Yet, the Clintons, for whatever reason, took every opportunity to anger this extremely important voting bloc THAT WAS OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORTING THEM IN 2008!

So, these same voters were literally forced to look at Obama, found that he was much better than Hillary, and voted accordingly....(all because Bill and Hillary could not avoid playing the race card).

I will never truly understand this line of thinking from the Clintons. They only have themselves to blame.

[Krikkit]

I think the whole race flap as it started was a simple case of double foot-in-mouth disease. For Bill's part, I think his intent in SC was to deflate Obama's image just a bit by pointing out he wasn't the first black candidate, or the first black candidate to have had a primary success because the media was painting him as a wonderkind. But his timing and words were way off. As a result, what came out looked and sounded more like "A black man winning SC is no big deal and means nothing."

Same for Hillary's President Johnson remarks that came were probably meant to inject some credit for the success of the Civil Rights movement back to experienced politicians "such as herself," but came out sounding like she discredited all the efforts of all the marchers who insisted on action inspired by black community leaders.

The later moves, however, have been intentionally built on blunders by necessity as the only cards left to play. Hillary's "broad base" had degenerated to older die-hard radical feminists and uneducated white lower class working poor. What's a woman to do with such lemons?

[obamagal]

I'll go one step further. From long before the Primaries started, all the media could talk about was the first female, and the first black, running. It is no wonder the other candidates could not get any traction - the media were enthralled with the first woman/first black scenario. The Clintons, I think, knowing this full well, wanted to up the ante so that 'the first woman' became more important and relevant. Hence the remarks, to 'put the black guy in his place' so Hillary could rightfully (read: entitlement) claim her proper position at the top of the rung.

... boy, did they ever misjudge their electorate. Talk about being 'out of synch', which more or less speaks to her entire campaign.

[ebm]

In Full agreement. I was for Hillary when she ran for the senate and again when this started. After Bill's comment before SC that started to change.

As the weeks and months continued and they got worse I changed sides especially since B.O. did not allow himself to be dragged into a mud fight.

[MizFlagPin]

I think what is so painful to AA voters who have supported the Clintons is that they have proven they will vote for a white candidate. Hillary Clinton's coded message reeked of racism and appeals to the very worse in people.

AA have proved they are not racist because indeed they will vote for a white candidate. Now is time for the white population described by Hillary to step up to the plate and vote for a person without considering the color of their skin or their gender but because they agree with the platform.

[Theogracias]

Mastering the female side was not her bag...so Monica mastered the hell out of it. It's important for a woman to be one Hillary. Your big balls are not hot!!!

[CocteausTwin]

The Clintons saw the possibility of achieving one more vote if they appealed to the racially challenged if they threw the AA community under (the back of) the bus.