Letters to the Editor
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respect
Goodness...Manos99 has found a playmate to "intellectualize" his uh...arguement. In order to have respect for another's position, there must be an intelligent discourse. Calling women names and accusing them of irrationality is just ignorant and not deserving of respect. So no...sorry, not a contradiction. You naughty little devils delight in bashing others and lash out when challenged. I would pity you if your "commentary" weren't beneath contempt. Fortunately, I'm not that pious or priggish and I will laugh at you instead. And from here on out, ignore you as well. But do go on...
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I listened to Yma Sumac while reading that last part
That was one of Paglia's better columns. I appreciate her take on the Hillary Clinton subject, and I'm always up for hearing Paglia discuss the captivating and intriguing women of past eras. Well done, Paglia.
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Obama & Hillary Race
As far as I can see, there are several socio/psycho/politico issues being worked out with many surrogates for the two candidates.
While I cannot intuit what Geraldine Ferraro meant, I can say this: there is a thread of common sense in the matter of how the media, and, I think, very subtly, through the Obama campaign, women are being sold a bill of goods on the notion that all things being otherwise equal, it is not o.k. for women to vote for Hillary because she is THE MOST COMPETENT CANDIDATE in this race. The mockery and blasts coming from the Obama campaign about her eight years in the White House not being a tremendous training ground for a President ... essentially, trying to demean and minimize her actions and efforts -- which is clearly aimed at her feminine characteristics -- demonstrate that it's o.k. for African-Americans, of course, to vote for an African-American, but not o.k. for women to vote for Hillary.
I lived in the sixties and seventies, when a plethora of "movements" were created and exploded in importance sociologically, psychologically, politically, economically, and historically. The Women's Movement was one of the most profound, and I am proud to have been married to two feminists. I have learned to listen to their views and perceptions.
A case in point, and I hope women on this blog hear this and ask, why is THAT o.k., but this isn't??
Last night, within the first few minutes of the film, the "c..t" word was used to describe a woman (a pejorative anatomical feature of a woman's body), but when Jane Fonda, speaking of the reasons for the creation of the "Vagina Monologue," she was villified. The complexity of the issue is enormous. As a disabled Vietnam Vet who was one of the first to write publicly that we were going to lose the war in Vietnam (summer, 1967), and a later member of SDS and supporter of American Indian Movement as well as an environmental supporter ... I've never hated Jane Fonda. But Jane Fonda and Hillary Clinton, and I am sure, Geraldine Ferraro, and perhaps many other women in politics, have been attacked and villified, and probably CALLED "C..T's" by woman haters since they achieved political success.
Obama himself alluded to "Well, when Hillary is feeling down about herself, she lashes out at me and attacks me ..." This is a psychological inference about her ability to balance self-esteem and political reality. It is, therefore, at the minimum, a call to the possibility that maybe she's "PMSing," or "in Menopause" or whatever else might have emerged from her body or her mind as A WOMAN.
I urge all women who are otherwise not Hillary Haters, and the Obama campaign clearly has many within it's ranks), to vote for the most competent, prepared, groomed, mentored, adept, nimble, and intelligent candidate for President ... Hillary Clinton. She has learned much from eight years in the White House ... and she clearly had some influence on the foreign leaders she visited ... because she undoubtedly was carrying messages -- implicit if not explicit -- from her husband's Administration.
That's a situation where if it were a man, the topic would have come up ... but it would have come out that even social visits carry messages to influential leaders of other nations.
The Ultra Liberal Wing of the Left Wing Party is also, with Obama as their point man, trying to wrest control of the Party away from the Centrist Clintons. Look at how wonderfully the Ultra Liberal Wing of the Left Wing Party (and I've voted that way before, but voted for Clinton while in office), because he was able to put together some bipartisan measures in a time of extreme wrath. He left OFFICE, in spite of his sexual piccadelios, with a higher rating than Bush has had for the last two YEARS of his Presidency.
The track record ... McGovern; Mondale-Ferraro; Dukakis; Kennedy several times; Kerry; Dean ... demonstrates that the ultra liberals will destroy the Democrats chances of winning in November. If people are otherwise not haters of Hillary, they should look at the manipulation coming from the Ultra Liberals about race and gender, and consider that with 51% of the population being women ... a competent and skilled woman should come ahead of, not behind, an African-American. A-As represent 12-14% of the population.
It is apparent to me that within the next four years, perhaps six, Hispanic-Americans will begin to move into the Democrat and Republican Party machines. Once that happens, African-Americans will watch their clout diminish within these parties, surely within the Dems. It is "now or never" for African-Americans. It should, I think, be equally important for women who recognize skill and competence and an ability to get legislation moving ... to vote for Hillary in a "if not now, who knows when next?"
Hillary, I'm happy to say, has had plenty of mentoring inside the Oval Office. I also want to say that Obama should have been so lucky to have had that kind of mentoring. Obama critcizes her for "poor judgement" on his one-theme message -- she voted for the war -- therefore, her judgement is poor -- but he exercised poor judgement in how he handled Michigan and Florida.
If a "redo" is done in those two states, the criteria should be: we will start with the previous tallies. Those people voted once. They will not be able to vote a second time. However, the tallies stand. And if people who already voted vote again, their second ballot will be cancelled. This honors those who voted the first time ... too bad Obama didn't see the advantages of thanking the people in Florida and Michigan, and getting on the ballot. Hillary saw that, and cleverly managed to make that one work to her advantage.
Hopefully, women will support her more and more as they understand McCain is the foe the Dems will do combat with.