Assaulted or Unassaulted?
Sure, there'll be Hillary nutcrackers. But I prefer to think that such an election year novelty speaks more to her Olympian quads than the assumption she would subjugate all men, geld them in a secret ceremony (tastefully lit with tuber rose-scented Jo Malone candles) and lead them around in studded dog collars like moist, smoothly complected capons.
I mean, it's not like there would ever be similarly outrageous paraphernalia that inanely caricatures Obama, right? After all, there's been so little of that kind of thing over the years. But lately Hillary's fiercely loyal base insists that her negative treatment has been due to the fact -- and only due to the fact that: she's a lady, whoa-whoa-whoa, she's a lady.
The truth is, her gender was and is helpful in her rise, but not as much as her intelligence and ability. And it should be an asset when 110% of the world is run by men. She, along with millions of women, has had to work much harder than her male counterparts to make it, to achieve anything approaching parity. There is rampant, maddening sexism. But Hillary's latest claims are simply not credible and in fact go a long way to diluting the scourge of daily, routine oppression against women. It is her sophisticated feminine talents, her truly advanced power of reason that propels her to her rightfully earned heights. If nothing else, during the episode involving Bill's legendary satyriasis, Hillary was far more understanding and/or forgiving than perhaps a marital partner of the opposite sex would be and effectively put to rest any insinuation that she'd be an unholy, testicle-mashing harridan. Bill had to be grateful for his wife's strength and wisdom. All men are. They are also, however, scared shitless.
Men, with their incessant chest-thumping; their insatiable, sloppy libidos; their back hair; their gas; their drool. Men, with their vein-popping, hyper-competetiveness, their Saturday afternoon scrums around the plasma watching ESPN and "300" and guzzling Red Bull and pork rinds, all because their days of trampling villages with severed heads on wrought iron pikes are gone. And though the hunter gatherer lies a-mouldering in the grave, men nonetheless require ersatz prey for their perpetually cocked shafts.
Wow. I just soiled myself.
What has effectively killed the enthusiasm for her as the possible President of the Re-United States is not the fact that she lacks a Y chromosome. Rather, it is her use of tactics culled from the pages of The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy for Dummies, her not-so-subtle pressing of buttons calculated to catalyze knee-jerk responses from the sea of supposedly loyal Democrats but who seem to be nothing more than cultural automatons ready for a shiny penny to be slid into their slots, apparently as vitriolic as the Repuglican somnambulists that made Hillary's life a misery and whom they so rightfully despise.
But like the attacks on Obama that highlight his scary sounding middle name or his scary sounding pastor or his scary sounding wife (and she's a WOMAN!!!!) categorizing Hillary as a victim of sexism shows there is nothing else to be said that cogently criticizes her qualifications, nothing of any substance that is assailable. Like all the bloody invective launched at Obama, the Hillary nutcracker exists because her actual ideas are unimpeachable. That she is using those low-brow tactics herself, or that her surrogates accuse the media (inarguably culpable for much that is low-brow and divisive) it is the fact that she is cannibalizing her own integrity by invoking sexism as a ploy to get herself elected that indicates her unsuitability as a genuine force for change.
So, it's not the gender, stupid. You'd have to be nuts to think so.
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honestly, I think the sexism has played in Clinton's favor.
nobody else would have ever gotten away with some of the sh!t she has gotten a Free Pass on.
I don't know if that's because she's a woman or because she's a Clinton
I think it's because she's a Clinton, she's just using the 'sexism' excuse because she is losing and she wants to manipulate a voting block.
Well there it is, Steven, you'll no doubt be severely lashed for pointing out that THE issue, for some choosing to be stupid, is apparently gender and nothing else. I know I've personally been told more times than I care to count, during the last year, that ANY 'issue' I have with 'the Clintons'.
Recognizing the campaign that MOST employs rovian 180-speak, or seeing which perpetrates the greater knee-jerk responses from the less informed voters does not really require "...perpet
The sexism and misogyny NOT being as widespread as claimed, has in the end seemingly worked against her campaign though, and was another miscalculation of the average voter's intelligence. Most citizens for some reason still think the inextricably linked criminal occupation and devastated economy as more important 'issues' than gender.
Go figure...
Sexism continues to be a real problem in our society, but Hillary's complaints actually make it harder for real women to be taken seriously when we address sexism. Hillary has experienced extraordinary privilege and exploited it to its fullest. She has occasionaly experienced sexism, and it's appropriate for her to challenge it. However, her desire to silence any criticism as sexism actually damages women. But this doesn't surprise me. When will her supporters realize that Hillary is not a feminist, that she cares only about her own ambition, not the lives of real women. If she cared about women, she would have run her campaign very differently.
"Sexism continues to be a real problem in our society, but Hillary's complaints actually make it harder for real women to be taken seriously when we address sexism." - PhDiva
I have been saying the same thing. She is not a feminist. Not in the least. She's a woman, but the way that she's going about doing things will NOT further the cause for women nor is it in any way representative of a strong woman.
And her sexism cries are like the boy who cried wolf. Or the woman, in this case. I'm not saying she hasn't encountered any sexism, but some of the things that I have heard pointed out make me want to tell her to just 'get a grip'. She started this race calling herself a girl, and saying that she knew her way around a kitchen. Then suddenly, she was offended if someone breathed wrong.
As she was so quick to quote early in the race: "If you can't stand the heat..."
God knows, I would love to see a woman as President. Hillary Clinton was co-president with her husband. She had 8 wonderful adultress years. Bill Clinton was inpeached and found guilty of lying. He lost his license, in addition, to the stuff Hillary pulled. It is time for someone else. I do not want to see another 8 years of Hillary , 8 more of Jeb Bush and another 8 years of Chelsea Clinton. Please Hillary supporters, let someone else in there. I hate McCain but I am sick of the Clintons and Bushs.
"8 years of Hillary , 8 more of Jeb Bush and another 8 years of Chelsea Clinton!!!!!!"
"I just soiled myself!"
that Hillary is not a feminist, that she cares only about her own ambition, not the lives of real women"
That was important to point out.
IF she had been a real feminist, we would have seen and heard work she was doing, programs, speeches and press releases all in service to women's issues.
Just like we would have expected to see her make a stand in the Senate in her years there. Rolling over for the Patriot Act and MCA was too telling...
Is it sexist to pop a woman's imaginary experience balloon?
If Hillary were not a woman, and if she were not Bill Clinton's wife, she would not have been elected to the Senate in New York and she would not be a Presidential candidate in this race. She is benefiting from some sort of affirmative action. She started the race as the overwhelming favorite with oodles of money. She blew it all by herself and alienated many more people than the huge number who already had a negative view of her. She did not lose because men ganged up on her. She lost because she exposed the real Hillary, causing even more voters to dislike and distrust her. She has voted down the line with Bush and pandered shamelessly to anyone and everyone. She has not shown herself to be the leader we need at this very important juncture in history.
There are plenty of good women out there, and we will no doubt have a woman president at some point in time, if we survive as the United States of America. It just won't be Hillary Clinton. People are sick of Hillary and her overweening ambition, and sick of the Clintons in general.
Almost everyone in the world benefits from their connections and their life circumstances. Why should Hillary be any different. I know that I have benefited from the connections of friends and family at certain times. Do you think Ted Kennedy would have made it the Senate if JFK and RFK weren't his brothers? Does that mean that Ted is an undeserving do-nothing? No, we're fortunate that he had those connections because he's been a great democratic senator. Hillary is an intelligent and resourceful politician, and we're lucky to have her on our side. Some of the less intelligent and mature among us dispute this and use cartoonish caricatures to misrepresent her character, but the fact remains that she's a good democrat and a good senator.
Nepotism is not affirmative action.
Yeah, yeah, she should have kept mum about the gender and nobody would have cared about it, right?
"she is cannibalizing her own integrity "
I love that line......
Hey...if I mention Jo Malone candles over and over here, do you suppose she'd send some free candles over to my house?
Jo Malone....
Yeah, Steven, what are Jo Malone candles? That jumped out at me, I wondered where you got those comfort items names? Are you a decorator too?
Great post, thanks.
She, along with millions of women, has had to work much harder than her male counterparts to make it - She got where she is now, on Bill's coattails, nothing more nothing less.
Attention women of America - if you want to run for president, DON'T USE YOUR HUSBAND TO GET THERE.....
She cries sexism but it is a man who put her in the position she's in, Bill Clinton. As his wife she got a tremendous boost up that the next woman candidate for president will not have. Of course she made good use of that advantage. She's smart and works hard for what she gets. But she's here because she's part of a mini dynasty, a power bloc that her husband created that she could spring from. So no talk of how terribly she's been treated by the establishment while she feeds off of that very establishment.
"She cries sexism but it is a man who put her in the position she's in, Bill Clinton." ~ mairs
THANK YOU! I applaud you for saying this. I'm so happy to read comments from people who are saying the truth and not just tossing out bullet points that had been fed to them.
Knowledge is power!
Hilary is losing on her own merits AND she has been a victim of sexism .
agreed but she is embracing those who have exploited her for what sex she is. She is using Karl Rove charts and talking on FOX News. Can you name any other person or group that have been more harmful to the Clintons and the Democratic party than Bush's brain and FOX News? Wasn't just last month that they were bringing up Whitewater, suicides (murder??? they would say), and dress stains. Yet these are the people she wants in her corner.
I just don't see sexism as a credible contention. There are women leaders all over the world, and US voters know this. We have women leaders at state levels. Nothing shocking or unthinkable about the concept of women as elected officials. We may have to work harder and get paid less money and less respect...
Though I believe that Hillary has been and still is a roadblock.
So let's take the high road, ala Obama, and leave off with the Hillary bashing. I'm not a fan of her and never was, but at this point we should let her play out the last pathetic efforts, and suffer her disappointment.
Let's not continue to contribute to devisive and destructive conversations, and let us strive for the unity we need to heal and thrive. We can do that without Hillary.
Hence why the "Iron my shirt!" incidents were stunts. Camilia Paglia nailed her on it.
Camille Paglia is right...sh
http://www
Obama supporters are going to regret the manner in which they have alienated the millions who have voted for Ms. Clinton. IN NOv he will need the support of her supporters and the manner in whcih Obama supporters have acted may make that a bit impossible.
It seems to be an overblown fear that everyone can't come together and vote for the dem candidate, of course they can. Its just a 'talking point' the right tries to spread around to cause fear and divisiveness.
If a supporter is that fervent for Hillary, they are that fervent for the democratic party. If they aren't fervent for the party, they won't be missed.
As long as we have enough time to run a thoughtful issue-based general election campaign, sensible democrats will return to vote Dem in November. They will have ample opportunity to take a long hard look at McCain's positions, shifty as they are, and make a sensible choice. It is clear that Obama will reach out to her supporters and request his supporters do likewise. Dems who continue to threaten to vote for McCain if they don't get their way need to evaluate their level of maturity.
As a European, I think the US campaign system is responsible for Hillary Clinton's loss. She would have been elected in, say, France, where a candidate needs institutional backing, name recognition and debating skills. This is why Ségolène Royal lost, by the way: she had little of all three of the above, compared to her rival Nicolas Sarkozy.
In the US, by contrast, a candidate has to prove his/her executive and leadership skills during the campaign. Hillary Clinton turned out not to have those skills, as the perpetually wrong direction and the financial mismanagement of her campaign proved.
Wrong women in the wrong countries. Still, it does show that your (USA) primary system is better than ours. You might have elected Royal, who would (in my opinion) have made a good president. We might have elected Clinton, who would (in my opinion) have made a terrible president.
Execellent as always ---clean yourself up Steve!
For all her complaints of sexism, one thing you will never hear from Hillary is how her gender has helped her. When the campaign season started, the media declared her the frontrunner and inevitable nominee. They released poll after poll showing her with a 20 point lead. And after every debate, they declared her the winner not because she did a great job, but simply because she didn't make any mistakes. The media, like Hillary, didn't take Obama seriously and they dismissed all the other Democrats as "the same old boring white guys" we see every election year. Never mind that both Dodd and Biden had way more experience than Hillary or that Edwards was the 2004 VP candidate. No, the most noteworthy thing about the 2008 campaign would be that we'd finally get a woman candidate with a good chance of winning it all. And not just any woman, but a former First Lady AND a Clinton. I'm not suggesting the only reason Hillary got votes was because of her gender. But being the only woman in the field has its advantages. Hillary had the misfortune of running against another "first", an African American. But imagine if she had to run against another woman with more experience than her?
Did being a black man have an advantage for Obama, like Ferraro said? If that statement makes her a racist then does your statement about Hillary make you a sexist, Denny?
At the beginning of the race, Hillary invited her supporters to celebrate the historical nature of a woman being in her position. And they did, women and men alike.
Sure, some guys sold nutcrackers and others made iron my shirt signs, but the great majority of male and female voters thought this was a good thing.
She blew it and now we're all sexists.
Well anyone who doesn't support Obama is a called a racist, so welcome to the world of absurd labeling.
LOL!
This was good!
But to just vote for Hillary because she is a female scares me. All of the women who insist that if Hillary is not elected now we may never get another female to run for president scares me. The women who will "rally" for fairness because of Fl and Mi scares me for if there is truly an unfair issue here why just women willing to "rally"? I look at all of the female involvement and have to wonder where are the men if what Hillary says is true for men are not all sexist beasts and they do recognize when someone is being treated unfairly? So why all of these very desperate women who are willing to go so very far for a candidate who cannot catch up and is becoming somewhere between a joke and a barrier to getting on with the national general election?
HRC's sexism argument is a non sequitur; why she will not/should not be the nominee has nothing to do with the fact she is a woman. She know it, Bill knows it, most of her surrogates know it. Unfortunately she has put it out there so often that too many of her supporters believe it-Rovian tactics rears it ugly head once again. Just another reason why Logic and Critical Reasoning should be taught in the school systems.
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