Women aren't good enough to hold office!

There's no 'after the jump' suspense here.  As a woman, I want to make it clear that it's not MY belief that women aren't good enough to hold office.  It's the belief of the Clinton camp, and apparently, the belief of a fair number of her supporters.  I can only believe that it's this practice of embracing the mindset of 'empowered masculinity' that led Hillary Clinton to brazenly and unabashedly support an immoral and unjust war and to be unapologetic about it. Forgiveness is for girls.  Apologies are for mama's boys.

It's this attitude that led her to attack her Democratic rival using Right Wing talking points.  It's this attitude that's led her to become the darling of the Right Wing talking heads.

Luckily for the Democratic Party, and for America, it's the same attitude that will end up costing Clinton the election.

I remember, with great sadness, that President Bush successfully mocked Dems by gently tapping his forehead, shaking his head side to side, and stating, 'this is how they think', referring to 'liberals'.  Given the Clinton campaign's hypermasculinized approach, I almost expect to see her hold up an empty codpiece, tapping it gently, and re-stating the line, 'this is how they think'.  She'll, of course, give the patented Hillary look of disapproval as she shakes her head from side to side, dismayed by the 'chick-like' nature of her party.

It's hard to pinpoint when it started, but it's a pretty safe bet that it began with a 'soft touch' approach to supporting the Iraq war.  It was deemed, by Sen. Clinton, a necessary vote to stop Saddam Hussein from carrying out acts of war and genocide on his neighbors and eventually the rest of the world.  We were told to ignore American's faithful servants and loyal heroes like Scott Ritter and Richard Clarke, who were destroyed by the Bush administration for daring to speak the truth.  

We were supposed to turn a blind eye on well established agencies like the IAEA and the U.N. - when they dared to suggest that the intelligence was wrong, there were no WMDs in Iraq. Scott Ritter openly stated that this was a war for people who were bad at science - those who believed that WMDs were easily constructed in the back of trucks, or almost any lab with a bunsen burner (not an exact quote).  

It was easy for the Bush Administration, which has never been science-friendly, to present this war to the American public without serious consequence back then.  Unfortunately, it was far too easy for Hillary to 'man up' and join the Bush administration in their fight to deceive.  There was voter gold in them there war mongering statements!

At the campaign wore on, the anger and the vitrol (heightened and masculinized) grew stronger:

- Shame on you, Barack Obama, meet me in Ohio and we'll hash this thing out.  It was the political equivalent of a gang fight: "Bring your click, I'll bring my click, and we'll bang this one out -- last man standing,  mutha-humper!

- There was the vote for Kyl-Lieberman

- The unwillingness to protect innocent men, women, and children from CLUSTER bombs.

- At the top of the manly man hit list? "Obliterating Iran" statements that require no apology or second consideration.

- In regard to the 'Gas Tax Holiday', you're either WITH US OR AGAINST US.  Econonmists, and others, who don't support her are elitists who are always working in favor of corporate America and against the average American.  As perverse as it is, I have to admit that I'm enjoying her F.U. to Paul Krugman, who almost blindly supports her and opposes the Gax holiday.  Many of Clinton's staunchiest supporters seem shocked by her statements... SOMEONE hasn't been paying attention to who Hillary Clinton really is.

- Add to that the Easley comment that Clinton was tough enough to make Rocky Balboa look like a 'pansy'.  She got a 'two fer' with that one.  Her supporter attempted to emasculate Sen. Obama and gay males all at the same time.

- How about Gipson's comment that she she has 'testicular fortitude'?

- A beer, a shot, and a good rifle - meant to be carried by the God-fearing, anyone?

- Most recently, James Carville is 'credited' with stating that if she gave Obama one of her cojones, they'd both have a pair.  I'm not sure where he's going with that, but when I get a visual on it all I know is that it makes me feel dirty, and just a little bit frightened.

WHERE are the feminists and all other people who are rightly angry about the all-too-slowly-dying penchant for sexism and subjugation taking place in modern American culture?  Where are the people who applauded Sen. Clinton's take down of MSNBC's deer-in-headlights-David-Shuster, for making the comment that Chelsea was 'pimped' by her parents?  Where are the people who've been attacking the media for the biased coverage of Sen. Clinton?  Oh, that's right, they're commenting on her testicles, her ability to scare 'pansies', and the qualifications that make her man enough to run the country.  I get it, now.

Why am I supporting Sen. Obama?  Becuase he hasn't defined this job as a 'man's job'.  He understands that the traits that make a President successful are intelligence, decency, integrity, and backbone - which has nothing to do with gender.  He has the intestinal fortitude to say what needs to be said and to stand by it leaving the need to display 'testicular fortitude' to the war mongering corporatists who think we're all to 'girly' to know any better.