Today's Jackass of Spades --- Gloria Steinem and Her Foot-in-the-Mouth Disease

SMH at this woman.

Clinton Surrogate Steinem Attacks McCain's War Record

The New York Observer reports that in Austin, Texas, over the weekend, feminist icon Gloria Steinem belittled Sen. John McCain's five-and-a-half years as a POW and said the media would treat that war record differently if it were a woman veteran's record.

"Suppose John McCain had been Joan McCain and Joan McCain had got captured, shot down and been a POW for eight years?" Steinem asked, suggesting the media would ask "'What did you do wrong to get captured? What terrible things did you do while you were there as a captive for eight years?" ...

Referring to his time in captivity, Steinem said, with bewilderment, "I mean, hello? This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I don’t think so."

Source

As I recall, Jessica Lynch's story made the news. She was martyred and everything until the truth was unfolded. Granted, her POW status wasn't years long, but she was a POW nonetheless who'd gotten a book deal and had almost gotten a movie deal. The one inarguable truth out of this is that Jessica definitely had it better than Shoshana Johnson.

Why is she so oversensitive about sexism? It's bad enough that the media continues to inject gender (and race) into the election coverage but shouldn't you be smarter than to take the bait? Why bring up some useless argument about how a female POW may be treated in contrast to a male POW? I fail to see the significance of her argument. Couldn't she have said "There's much more to leadership than serving in a war or being a POW" and then list Hillary's accomplishments?

Isn't Gloria tired of making thoughtless remarks?

Obama's Sexist?

From The Huff Post:

The Change Candidate Needs to Change His Tone Towards Women
by Karen Stabiner

The first time Hillary Clinton ran a television ad complaining about Barack Obama's unwillingess to debate in Wisconsin, he fired back with an ad of his own about the 18 debates he's already participated in and the two more that are scheduled.

She wouldn't let it go; her subsequent ad speculated on whether he was reluctant because his health insurance care plan wasn't as good as hers.

At a televised campaign stop, someone asked him how he felt about the ad campaign. Obama, grave-faced and sympathetic in tone, opined that when Senator Clinton was 'feeling down,' she went on the attack to make herself feel better; that is, she committed an error in judgment because she was in a bad mood. That was the moment when I, and other women of a certain age, all over the country, winced.

The change candidate had embraced one of the oldest clichés in the book -- that women are held hostage by emotion, that we can't be trusted with the big decisions because, depending on our age, we're either on the rag or having a hot flash. The overtly sexist position used to be that you didn't want to entrust the red phone to a woman because women are unpredictable and irrational; a fit of hormonal pique and kaboom, we all glow in the radioactive dark. The ones who aren't instantly vaporized, that is.

The kinder, gentler version? A soft-spoken observation about what a female candidate does when she's "feeling down," the implication being that Hillary's distress over the delegate count had impaired her judgment, and that someone who loses her way like that is not strong enough to withstand the rigors of the presidency. If you think that I and the indignant gal friends I've polled are overreacting, try the acid test: Imagine any major candidate making that kind of subtle put-down about a man's psychological fortitude. In 1972, Thomas Eagleton had to have shock treatment to get us to raise a national eyebrow about his mental health, ending his brief tenure as George McGovern's running mate. Short of that, we tend to assume that the boys are steady enough to handle the job.

Source

I'm gonna have to respectfully disagree Ms. Stabiner. I think that this is one of the many problems that people see with feminism. This oversensitivity associated with Women's Lib that impairs judgment and has some women jumping to conclusions serves as a repellent to people who are ignorant to the good that feminism has accomplished. As a woman, I know what it's like to be seen as "emotional" and "illogical." As a Black woman, I doubly understand what it means to be robbed of your right to feel as though my sensibilities have been offended (ironically it's expected) and I know what it feels like to be placed in a victimless state when I've been violated.

Yes, I'm an Obama supporter, but I honestly don't feel that his remark was laden with sexism. If it were a man, I believe he would've said the same thing. As a woman of Nigerian descent, my "sexist pig" radar is rather keen. I think the coded language behind Obama's remark is that Hillary's showing desperation. He could've been blunt and said that's she's arrogant, threatened, desperate, and low on campaign funds, but Obama would rather be a gentleman. Even before these ads, Hillary's shown that she's desperate and threatened by him. If you don't believe me, just consider her and Bill's poor execution of Southern Strategy. What a way to take the Black vote for granted.

V-Day Turns 10

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Feminists Not Voting With Their Vaginas, Endorse Obama; My Two Cents

Feminist Leaders Oppose Hillary, Endorse Obama

Jon Weiner

More than 100 New York feminist leaders released a joint statement Sunday afternoon criticizing Hillary Clinton and supporting Obama for president - evidence that Clinton's support among women activists has declined significantly in the days before the super-Tuesday primary.

Clinton's support for the war in Iraq was the leading reason she lost the support of the group, which calls itself "New York Feminists for Peace and Barack Obama!" "We urgently need a presidential candidate whose first priority is to address domestic needs," the group added.
Those endorsing Obama include longtime peace activist Cora Weiss; Katha Pollitt, columnist for The Nation; Pulitzer-prize winning New York Times writer Margo Jefferson; award-winning women's rights historians Alice Kessler Harris and Linda Gordon; Barbara Weinstein, president of the American Historical Association, and Ellen P. Chapnick, Dean for Social Justice Initiatives at Columbia Law School.

"Choosing to support Senator Obama was not an easy decision for us," the group stated, "because electing a woman president would be a cause for celebration in itself." They "deplored" the "sexist attacks against Senator Clinton that have circulated in the media." But, they stated, they nevertheless supported Obama because his election "would be another historic achievement" and because "his support for gender equality has been unwavering."
The group based their opposition to Clinton on "her seven-year record as senator." Despite her recent pledges to remove troops from Iraq, the group stated, Clinton's "record of embracing military solutions and the foreign policy advisers she has selected make us doubt that she will end this calamitous war." (Source)

Here is the petition drawn by New York Feminists for Peace and Barack Obama.

Since Edwards dropped out of the race, I'm gonna go with Obama who was my second choice. I don't mean to make him out to be sloppy seconds, LOL! Contrary to the belief of some overzealous (White) liberal women and Black Billary supporters, I'm not voting for Obama because I'm Black. I prefer Obama because of what he stands for. He stands for change, he's new to the scene, he's not a war hawk, he's very in touch with the youth, and I appreciate his ideas on how he'd run our country.

I don't support Hillary because of

1. Her hawkish ways

2. Her filthy campaign that drips with race-baiting and distortions of Obama

3. Her shamelessness in running on the laurels of her husband

4. Her taking the Black vote for granted

5. Disrespecting and devaluing the contributions of Martin Luther King, and when you think about it, Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young (he's too blinded by Bill's honorary Blackness to see her disrespect though), and countless others. My boss approves all of my projects so should I be discredited for all of the work I put in?

6. Some of her alliances (Bob "BET" Johnson, Charles Rangel)

7. Her telling Obama to renounce the support of certain people (David Geffen, Nevada unions' ads) while not addressing State Sen. Robert Ford (D-SC) for saying "It's a slim possibility for him to get the nomination, but then everybody else is doomed. Every Democrat running on that ticket next year would lose — because he's black and he's top of the ticket. We'd lose the House and the Senate and the governors and everything."

8. Her "desperate times call for desperate measures" tactics like using Obama's elementary school essays to indicate inconsistencies with his desire to be president

9. And last but not least, fuck another political dynasty. I am 26 years, so since my conception (LOL!), it's been Bush (Reagan), Bush (Reagan), Bush, Clinton, Clinton, Bush, and Bush. See the pattern? Who'll come after? Jeb and then Chelsea? NO THANK YOU.

Even though she said that she'll be the second Clinton to clean up the second Bush's mess, I don't believe it. And Slick Willy made a mess himself. Some even before he got into the Oval Office.

Remember

1. Troopergate (Gennifer Flowers)?

2. Sister Souljah (I mean, her name spawned a political lexeme)?

3. Lani Guinier?

4. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"?

5. Rwanda?

6. Kosovo?

7. Sexual harassment cases?

8. Mandatory sentencing?

9. Welfare reform?

10. The dreadful War on Drugs?

11. Zippergate?

12. Black Hawk Down?

13. Wet Foot/Dry Foot?

14. Whitewater?

Ummm ... that's not a good look so therefore, no to a co-presidency. Especially a bad one. Stop the madness.