Letters to the Editor
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@Jack
I know you're an Obama supporter. I'm not trying to attack you, just engage in a dialogue about some of the issues that have been raised regarding this campaign.
I guess we are not watching the same new media. I didn't think that the SNL skits were funny. I did think that they accurately reflected Hillary's strange sense of entitlement. She seems to believe that it's unfair when someone asks her questions that may force her to contradict herself, but she has no trouble insinuating complete falsehoods about Obama. And the debates: Slate counted the number of times that Hillary was asked questions first. In their two solo debates (debates #19 and #20). Obama was asked to answer questions first more in the first debate and Clinton was asked to answer questions first more often in the 2nd debate. One of the things that the Slate writer noticed was that often when Hillary was not asked a question first or when a question was asked of both candidates at the same time, Hillary jumped at the chance to answer before Obama. In fact, her campaign had tried to make hay out of the number of times that Obama was forced to answer "I agree with Senator Clinton" because she had taken the opportunity to state their shared position first.
The fact of the matter is that we know more about Hillary, so there is more to question. She has held herself up as having 35 years of experience. She includes in her 35 years of experience her decades of employment at a corporate law firm where she was defending big businesses (and, if I read correctly, a child molester?). She includes her years as First Lady where she did not have a security clearance. She is claiming that social meetings that she had with Presidential spouses and PR events as First Lady are examples of her foreign relations experience, and NO ONE in the mainstream press is questioning her, or probing deeper. Instead they've allowed her to frame the contest as "real experience vs. naive hope." We have had numerous "articles" like this one from Conason, that ignore facts, that make spurious connections, and that diminish the incredible talent, brilliance, accomplishments and ideals of Obama.
Finally, Hillary and her supporters have made a lot noise about how mysogynistic the press is, like this is somehow news, or that she shouldn't have expected it. This is the same press that spent years analyzing her hairstyles and her wardrobe as First Lady. This is the same press that criticized her for saying she wasn't Tammy Wynette. This is the same press that spent weeks covering Anna Nicole Smith and Paris Hilton. Yet, Hillary is shocked, (shocked, I say!) that there may be hints of sexism in the reporting. What I find more remarkable is that this is the same press that is notoriously racist (remember, white people in New Orleans were scavenging for supplies and black people were looting). Yet somehow Obama has managed to largely diffuse the racial aspects of this campaign. He has not allowed the press to limit his candidacy as"the black candidate." I wonder why Hillary continues to beat the drum about how hard it is for her as a woman? Perhaps because the drum beat brings out her most virulent "it's time for a woman to lead" supporters.
Again, I know we're on the same team. I just think there is so much more that needs to be discussed regarding this issue. And for the record, I LOVE the Simpson's.