Letters to the Editor
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Re: Can Maureen Dowd Cry Her Way To A Pulitzer Prize?
Hilarious and on point! Thanks so much for the link!
Now if Jon Swift would now do a similarly sharp takedown of Chris "Tweety" Matthews.
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@ shantih
I wrote: "Any way you look at it, it appears the electorate across the board is giving a big "f-you" to the ruling elites in this country, and it's a glorious thing to see."
You responded: "If Clinton were not a part of said ruling elite, this would indeed be a glorious thing, and true. This may have been the perceived sentiment, however. I'd like to give the electorate the benefit of the doubt and think that they have a a memory longer than five days, but I don't know anymore."
Well, see, that's what's so interesting about all this (and I hear you r.e. Clinton herself; I've been strongly tacking towards Obama these days; see my previous letters). But what do we mean when we include someone as part of the "ruling elite"? What do any of us mean by empowered/disempowered? You look at the world through the feminist lens, and the answer is pretty obvious. You look at it through a socio-economic lens, and the answer changes dramatically.
What's got me a little concerned about the Clinton phenomenon is that these questions of empowerment/disempowerment/victimhood have come to the forefront in a way that they haven't really with Obama. The problem I foresee is that, either one of these candidates, if they win, is going to end up commander-in-chief of the U.S. Armed Forces, which in recent decades has shown itself to be a political force in and of itself (aside from numerous other more recent examples, witness the end-run around Bill Clinton when he tried to lift the ban on gays in the military). If you don't have their respect and absolute subordination to your political will, that is a HUGE problem for a healthy democracy. And culturally--speaking as a female former Army officer--this whole victimhood thing just doesn't fly--not even, I should say, with most female military officers I know. It is flatly incompatible with the military's notion of a leader.
So if this victimhood/sympathy/show of tears thing is now the thing that gets Clinton votes, and/or becomes her new general M.O., I really fear this is going to cost her over the long run in terms of her ability to maintain the kind of relationship she needs to with the military she could someday command.
On your point about the short-term memory of the electorate, I guess I've long since come to terms with the fact that the average American is basically the average juror: they want really hard to do the right thing, but they have busy lives, they aren't the political junkies that some of us are, and they're going to occasionally vote with their gut. The fact that their gut is feeling anti-establishment these days is still a glorious thing, even if it's not entirely rational.
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Can you say John Edwards?
Yeah, yeah, Rebecca, your pro-Hillary bias now vindicated in New Hampshire, you herald the feminist "IT's so unfair cliches!" but no where in that article do you mention the alternative to BOTH of the inferior frontrunners on the Democrat side. John Edwards. Why not just take a look?
Or would that be too adventurous for you?
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@anon "whiner monologues"
Spot on!
Following the logic of many of the women posting here, white male Democrats who avoid tears should vote for Mitt Romney because they can "identify" with him.
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Men have been voting against women forever.
Something I forgot to say. Vote for a woman because she is a woman. Men have been voting for men because they aren't women since recorded history.
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Guess I've got to say this one more time today: Hillary DID NOT CRY!
What the hell is wrong with you people? Did you watch the video or not?
She got a little verklempt, a catch in her voice that's all. She got a little catch in her voice two times in twenty seconds. NO TEARS! For christ's fucking sake, review the goddamned video if you don't believe me.
Oh sure, it's never happened to YOU, right?
This is all bullshit manufactured by the cable news networks and you suckers are lapping it up like it was Chris Matthews' drool.
For the record, I don't care much for Hillary, but goddamn it, at least be fair about it. SHE DID NOT CRY!
Fuck!
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Thank you, Rebecca!
When I saw the NH results, after 10 PM, with a check mark next to Clinton, I could scarcely believe it! Hillary the declared victor! Although I have supported Clinton since the beginning (probably because of her gender, I admit) my immediate reaction was not "Good for you Hillary", but rather "That'll show you, you f**g pundits, especially you, Chris Matthews." Your article voiced my feelings a lot better that I could have, and I thank you mightily for it. Congratulations.
Mel Hausner
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Another element...
Aside from their disgust over how the press treats Hillary Clinton, people may also believe that a farm-belt state that's 90% white shouldn't get to anoint the presidential candidates. I hope that's what happens, that voters finally express their frustration that two tiny, unrepresentative states keep picking the president, and vote for whoever didn't win Iowa and New Hampshire. I'd like to see each state pick a different winner until the convention. Let's get some balance!
Meanwhile, the cheek-pinching incident was just gross, but Hillary handled the douchebag with the right amount of condescension. If only the Secret Service had stepped in...
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Condi
too bad that Condi's not running; then all these ID politics jackasses could us what racist mysoginists we all are for not supporting here!! don't support the woman you must be sexist!!
let's not forget what Margaret Thatcher did to the UK. it wasn't pretty (and neither was she. hahahaha).
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Is the irony lost on ANYONE?
These tears were a ploy to play on people's sexist assumptions that women are weak and need support when they break down. That was especially true when Bill Clinton came riding in on his white horse to defend a lady in disdress.
And that question she was asked: "How do you do it?"
Is there any doubt that that is a question that can only be asked from one woman to another? Really. If Obama or Edwards had gotten that same softball question and then they choked up, it would have been suicide. The fact that it helped Hillary says a lot about the way women are perceived in American society.