I WAY prefer Obama, but could somebody show five amazing compliments Joan has made to Hillary and five criticisms? And I'd love to also see 5 amazing compliments Joan has made about Barack (already know one MASSIVE one) and 5 criticisms.

By bet: It's not all that dramatic, especially when you hold it up the extreme heat of the Joan Loves Hillary narrative.

But

I'm WAY hoping Obama gets to be the one stepping off of Air Force One and into foreign lands. I'm sure I spelled "foreign" incorrectly, as well as "incorrectly". But I WAY prefer Obama and don't expect Joan has said to many great things about either. I get it: many are upset on her focus.

Joan really does like Mathews, apparently. She says so multiple times. I think he is very likable, but I can't stand his opinions, how he arrives at them or his show. But as a person, he makes me smile.

The fact that Joan can speak so favorably for a guy who she no doubt considers a wonderful example of sexism should, I think, put her perspective in context a bit. She has brought up this issue as part of her project to ensure that Salon and herself never are pointed to as examples of Obamamaniacs. But other than that, she isn't a crusader and she has a healthy sense of perspective. I just wish she would write her honest thoughts on media coverage and this election. I don't mean she's lying, but I know there is a really robust set of ideas in her brain

but she is afraid to look one-sided and part of the Obama trance. She loves the guy!

Look, whenever Joan is truly impressed by the substance of this primary, she is impressed and/or moved by Obama...much more than by Clinton. I mean Joan has come out a few different places and really given Barack credit, not for something "flashy" or "talented" or rhetorical. No. Joan mostly is sticking to strategic criticism of Obama and Clinton, but the few times she really shouts applause for something that matters, it has been in Barack's favor. We may think Joan is wrong in most of her strategic criticisms of Barack, but we can't ignore how impressed she has been by some very important substantive points. If he becomes president, all of her fears that he doesn't come across perfectly to all groups or that he is less affected by racism than Hillary is by sexism will wash away and be forgotten. What won't be forgotten are the points about his intelligence and character that Joan has acknowledged she appreciates and recognizes.

It seems strange that while Joan reversed her reaction to Barack after reading his further clarification of those remarks, she still, so far, holds to the notion that he carries a sense of entitlement (I'm assuming she means more than normal, or at least more than Hillary and McCain)....Sure, he may. I don't really see it. I see the ambition, but we won't get president of this country who isn't abnormally ambitions.

Again, I think Joan is working hard to show is not an Obamamaniac. I think anybody who tries to claim she has been hard or mean or oddly judgmental about Barack will have a hard time proving it based on the words of her blog alone. Especially, when you put her criticisms of him up against her criticism of Hillary.

I'm a feminist, big time. It was the main thing I wrote about back in my undergrad days (not saying) and my masters degree dissertation was an examination of the way our language implicitly is still governed (by in large) by sexist assumptions.

But I think there is much more in play than Joan Walsch and articles like this tend to suggest. Here is a small example.

Ms. Traister suggests that if Bill were running against Barack we would not see the intense reactions against him that we see against Hillary. What do you all think. In my opinion: What is She thinking??????

Just read Salon's comments sections and see what you see. I see hateful things being said about him, big time. And my hunch is that IF he was running against Barack we would ONLY see this hatred amplified.

Is there any reason to think that if Bill Clinton was running against Barack we would see LESS of these reactions against him? I can't think of any. But what I find interesting is that so many women who are in my opinion over generalizing their claims of sexism find it "obvious" that Hillary is being treated more aggressively than Bill. Why?

Nothing of what i said above (or below) is to imply that I don't recognize sexism at work in this election. In my opinion it is simply isn't as easy to tease apart when Hillary disgust is a function of sexist ideology or instincts.

What if she put the word out that she wanted to hear from women who are having positive experiences with the men who share their love for Barack? Might she receive really moving accounts of these men and how they view women? Yes, you're right, even if she did get such letters they would prove NOTHING. They would suggest that many of Barack's supporters are men who hold and fight for feminist values.

You can find many, if you look, examples of Hillary supporters who speak in sexist terms and probably racist. But do these types of examples really tell us anything useful about Hillary and Barack supporters. I bet if Barack were losing, we would be reading many more stories about Hillary supporters who speak in racist ways. I still would not think it gave us any type of clear picture about Hillary supporters.