ugg

Of course Chelsea Clinton has every right to campaign for her mother, in whatever way she likes. Just as every other American has a right to an opinion, about that or any other thing a public person does in public. An opinion of their own, not something that the campaign put out, and expected everyone to echo, like were all drones. She put herself out there. Or her mother’s campaign pimped Chelsea out there.

Of course we’re all going to say that now. Again and again. Why, because we can, and because it’s true. Besides, it reminds us all how old and out of touch the Clintons really are. How desperate the campaign was to have some sort of win, even at the cost of Hillary and Chelsea Clinton’s names being eternally linked with the words “pimped out” forever made immortal by Mrs. Shuster’s baby boy. Why should we assume that he doesn’t have a mother too?

Hillary Rodham Clinton (yes, that is how she signed that nasty letter to MSNBC) reacted to David Shuster’s comments and observations not as a mother, but as a flailing candidate who thought she could get some mileage out of it. She simply misjudged the tenor of the times. Again. Go figure.

I think she signed her name that way because as a faux feminist, she needed to dog whistle the actual feminists of the country, to come riding to her rescue, and a few of them bless their poor aching, betrayed, hearts, did.

I was most struck by an opinion penned by Susan Estrich, comparing the Chelsea Clinton of today to her own son, back in the day when he was a small child, and a pro-lifer went a bit nuts on her in front of said small child. Apple seed, meet orange tree.

Susan Estrich, whether or not you agree with her positions, her attitude or her personal air of superiority, has in fact spent her adult life promoting a cause she regarded as very important, not a small point. Yet she decided to undermine all that effort, cave to peer pressure in support of the good ol’ girl network. She tried to justify an irrational public tantrum by Hillary Clinton. Stunning heartbreak. Ouch! I’m angry about it. Estrich is likely smarting over a self-inflicted wound. She has her reasons, to be sure, but what if a man; any man had penned Susan Estrich’s opinion?

Shuster did not attack Chelsea Clinton. Chelsea was the object of the sentence, not the subject; that was the campaign.

Chelsea Clinton is in her late twenties. She works for Clinton benefactors, making six-figures a year. She entered the workforce fewer than five years ago, and has always made six figures a year. Now she has the temerity to talk publicly about a glass ceiling? Disgusting.

I don’t fault Chelsea Clinton for banking money while she can. I don’t fault her for working on the campaign, but I do think the press has shown too much deference to Chelsea. Not that the space that she was given as a child bothers me at all, but now she and her parents feel entitled to keep everything a one way kind of relationship. The Clintons are entitled to try, but nobody owes them anything. When you show open contempt to an entire industry, often times you get back what you give. It is not unethical to buddy up to super-delegates and snub the very reporters even a nine year- old child. But to expect those whom you snub to say only nice, reverent words about you is not realistic.

Poor Wolfie. I mean that, really, I really do.

Chelsea Clinton isn’t any more or less precious than anybody else’s adult offspring. She does not merit special reverence. Mrs. Lewinsky’s little girl didn’t seek the spot light either. Pity neither she nor her mother, had the foresight to attend Wellesley.

If Chelsea Clinton were any kind of a person, she would have put a stop to this before her mother sent that nasty letter. Before that nasty letter was signed, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Now we hear that she prefers to be called Senator Clinton. Fine, so perhaps somebody in the campaign could mention that to their printer, put that on the signs and bumper stickers. Consistency would create less confusion.

What you can’t do, is brag about breaking the highest, hardest glass ceiling in this nation and expect to do it unscathed. Doing something for the very first time is hard, whatever the thing is. Ask the first girl who went to military school, was it hard? Was everybody kind and fair? Did she have to be better, smarter than the boys? To be a pioneer is to take the arrows. Also it’s best to keep the whining private.

Funny

That line, “I think everybody knows that I’ve live through some challenging moments in my life” I think is derisive. I think it’s dismissive of anybody whose parents controlled the family television set during the days of her husband’s impeachment. It wasn’t about one singular affair. It was about a habit of the Clintons to use women as Kleenex. To lie about it under oath, only to later settle after the country took the hit. First Bill gets to have his way, and then Hillary gets to punish the women, somehow vindicating her faux feminist self. That said, it’s a funny line. She has so few. I disagree with the pundits who say that she can’t say it with Bill in the room. These are the Clintons; they have 35 years of experience in out-shaming the nation. Bill just has get caught laughing first, looking down with a sheepish, “gosh, I’m a bad boy” look on his face, and it’s still funny. For anybody old enough to get the joke.

I find it deeply offensive when strange men whistle at me. I also find it deeply offensive when strange women do it. As far as I can tell, it's a threat, a form of intimidation. So you know where I am. So what? You are not funny. You are not helping me. I've asked you to stop...I'm all finished asking.

Peter Paul

Does anybody know anything about the Peter Paul suit? Apparently, Hillary Clinton has to testify, even though she's no longer a defendant. But here's the rub, she has three lawyers who refuse to accept the subpoena on her behalf. She's requiring that she be served in person, on the campaign trail. Past the Secret Service...
Is this really happening?

Castro out, Castro in,

Castro steps down, leaving the government to be run by his 76 year old brother...and you thought picking an eighty year old pope was silly...

To do...

Any report that suggests that Chelsea Clinton is a lovely girl can only be considered pandering.

If that story about Tim Russert preventing David Shuster from being fired is true, Russert did his colleague a terrible disservice. As it stands, Russert is neither working or available to look for work. He’s ineligible for unemployment; he’s just twisting in the wind, awaiting grace from a Clinton.

How’d you like to be him? Russert should have stayed out of it. Shuster could have then hired an attorney and sued for wrongful termination. As it stands, the guy is languishing, neither in nor out. The Clinton plans seems to be delay, until people forget, and Shuster disappears.

It is not about the Clintons need to pick fights with those who can’t or won’t defend themselves. The hypocrisy of any Clinton to not accept an apology is not at issue. The refusal of Clinton to state what she thinks would be sufficient is not at issue. The implication that Hillary Clinton will use her position as president to quietly avenge everybody that was mean to her husband is not at issue. Shuster’s comment is not at issue. Russert’s intentions are not at issue. Our expectations of grown up millionaires are not at issue. Whether or not Chelsea Clinton can be considered a “woman with needs” is not at issue. Whether or not she is a lovely girl, or an arrogant piece of dirt, is not at issue. Whether or nor Chelsea cried about it, not at issue. Whether or not allowing this to go this far shows class is not at issue. Whether or not a mother has a right to be deeply offended is not at issue. It is not at issue whether or not rearranging the desks in your campaign office is actual change. It is not about situation comedies, which paint every male character as a buffoon. It is not about Bill Clinton’s habits. This is not about sexism, how far we’ve come, or how far we need to go.

What is at issue, does anybody, elected official or private citizen, have the right to control the media?

That’s the reason this fight must be fought. Shuster needs to lawyer up, and have his attorney send a letter demanding he be reinstated immediately or fired. If he’s reinstated, that should be the end of it. If he’s fired, which is the best move for everybody, he needs to file suit. Against not only his company, but also those who called for his firing, the Clintons, and a random number of John Does. Citing that the expression used was a commonly accepted figure of speech, a figure used in the past by members of the same network to express the same point. The lawsuit will provide some cover for all those involved. All should lawyer up, batten down the hatches, and find a soft place to land.

I suggest that people simply refuse to comment on Chelsea. If you can’t say anything that could possibly be perceived as remotely negative, or off color, then anything complimentary must be suspect. Just mention a fear of the wrath of mom and if you need your job. I see that’s already happening.

Other option, bide your time and hope for the best.

Hillary Clinton, in her cowardly passive aggressive way is simply bullying the media. She expects considerations that she herself is unwilling to extend. It’s part of a large troubling pattern.

If she or her daughter felt that Shuster had defamed either one of them, the remedy is not threats of government contracts being renegotiated, but a civil suit instead. Perhaps Paula Jones would be so kind as to recommend a qualified attorney.

Do we all have to have Ivy League degrees and sensibilities to be Americans? Are we allowed to be each of us our own person? Complete with our own interests, opinions and micro-trends? If we’re a little unpolished, or even disrespectful at times, this is the time and the place.

The only good way out of this contrived mess is for Chelsea or the Hillary Clinton camp to come out publicly quoting Voltaire, and apologize that this has gone this far. Course, she’s put herself into a corner. Does she boycott the debate, or use that forum to be magnanimous? Hold herself up as a pioneer who got the nation talking about sexism. She often sounds Christ-like, in her willingness to go anywhere where two or more are gathered in her name. Also by saying that anything we do to or for her, we in fact do to and for all women.

She’s requested debates, and now might not participate?

I understand MSNBC’s position. I just don’t see why HRC thinks she’s in a position to decline any airtime.

Awkward...

Hey Clinton sycophants, I don't know what else to call you. I wouldn't want to be called a Kool Aid drinker, and supporter isn't near as specific enough. I think you know who you are...I need to ask, do you realize that many of the words, phrasing expressions that are being used against Shuster, coming from the Senator, is an exact parroting of the complaints I've made of the Clinton's conduct? I just mean the stuff they directed toward me.

I'm not speaking just of the blog. I mean things I've said in private conversation. Try to think how intimidating that is, the most powerful people in the world, talking trash about you personally.

If that information wasn't disclosed to you, you're probably considered what's call a cat's paw.

I did say it was awkward...

Pimp

Who would vote for a person that has journalists fired because of their vocabulary? They threatened to boycott a debate on NBC, unless Schuster was fired. I happened to have seen the show; there was no implication of sex. Yes, it’s a strong word, but it was used appropriately.

There’s a show called “Pimp my Ride” have you seen it? It’s been on in the US for years. It’s also on in the UK. The premise taking on old, run down vehicle and making it cool.

How different is that from what Chelsea is doing? Hillary Clinton is old, run down, just like the cars made pretty by the show. For the Clintons to pretend not to understand that acceptable definition of the word, suggests they’re out of touch, disinterested in keeping up with the common vernacular.

This nation has given a lot to Chelsea Clinton. She’s 27 years old, single, and rich. She has access to movie stars, fashion designers, and world leaders. She’s kept safe, via her Secret Service protection, she knows that nobody’s going to slip a mickey into her food or beverage. We should all be so fortunate.

What reason does anybody have to be proud of Chelsea Clinton? Who has she inspired? What cause has she made her own? What has she done for anybody, ever? Has she ever battled any dragon? Why should we as a people love her? We know nothing of her personality. We have no basis to say that she is a lovely girl. She seems vacuous. Of course some people like that, and that’s fine. But the only thing we know about her personality is that she believes she’s too special to interact with the little people. She’ll call famous people, and super delegates, but shuns reporters. There are lots of conceded people on the planet; I don’t hold that against her. It’s flat out bad form to make a point of not interacting with people who are only doing their jobs. To put her in the public eye, using the media when it suits her, and not participating in any other way, fosters distain.


I can understand why the Clintons would be concerned about their daughter’s reputation. Think about it, think of the many people, most of them daughters somebody, that the Clintons have deliberately and errously called prositute. The Clintons know how easy it is to ruin women. They’ve had a lot of practice, and on this issue, they don’t need the learning curve for that. For that they don’t need to find their voice.

Leave it to the Clinton camp to vie for debates, and then threaten a boycott. I don’t believe for a second that Hillary Clinton would actually boycott a debate, that her campaign needs this much. It’s just so much saber rattling, demagoguery, again.

I know that Steven Kluger (Rick Lazio’s college roommate) is a big wig at GE.

When Keith Olberman, also of MSNBC, busted George Bush’s chops for pimping out David Petreaus, there was no outrage. No public calls for termination of his employment, on which his health insurance is dependant. Not a whimper, a tantrum, or a snivel. Of course not. Nobody thought an apology necessary.

For Schuster to apologize for using language too hip for the Clintons, that’s fine, but use of that term does not rise to the level of anything more.

MSNBC- bring Schuster back! Do it quickly, before the debate. Let politicians know that in America, we don’t allow our elected officials be dictators. We do have a Constitution for the purpose of discouraging that sort of thing. If it puts you in a preferable position to remind the Clintons that Schuster bought Bubba’s defense of Hillary, fine. I don’t believe that Hillary Clinton would boycott a debate that her campaign needs so badly. If she does, let Obama have the time, and say whatever he wants. Plus, you’ll have that story to report.

Anybody else offended at Emily’s List, and NY chapter of NOW? They’re undermining feminism. Saying that a long time ally of the feminist movement committed the ultimate betrayal was outrageous. Ted Kennedy has been championing women’s causes for longer that Hillary Clinton has been taking credit for the accomplishments of others. You need to stop wigging out every time somebody disagrees with you, or says an unpolished word. It’s a big world; there are lots of people here. Many who are decent people. In spite of the fact they lack your advantages. Besides, acting out irrationally reflects badly on all of us, and the Clintons are not the only people in the world. There are plenty of women, with real problems, who are in real need of your protection. Unless the Clintons are extorting your devotion…it’s a fair assumption…PUT THE KOOL AID DOWN.

Bye bye

So Mitt Romney is bowing out, good for him. And now there are four. And a half?

Money

So Chelsea Clinton is able to call super delegates on behalf of her mother. By the way super delegates, those of you who accept daughter Chelsea’s calls, Obama’s daughters just might have you on speed dial too. She can’t talk to kid reporters but she can call super delegates. She also called most of the women of The View, or so they said. The reason I hesitate, each of the women who had received phone calls, repeated the conversations on the air. As Chelsea Clinton doesn’t talk to the little people, I don’t know what she sounds like, Mike Tyson’s voice is recognizable. To me that’s the voice the women were imitating.

Hillary Clinton loaned her campaign $5 million dollars of her own money. What's the interest rate? Has she paid it back already? Why would she do that? Why would she use those words? Didn’t Bubba want her to use her own money? Did he want the family money used instead? What’s this about paid members of the campaign agreeing not to be paid? What’s that about? Are Obama’s workers going without paychecks?

By the by, the Clintons and the Obamas are all of the baby boom generation, albeit on opposite sides.

Yes, Bubba is said to be in a box as of late. But think about it, is he in the box, or is the media? Is it because Hillary said, “Get in the box.” or because the old guard said it? Could it be because of the recent money scandals? Perhaps it’s because the National Archives have sent Bill Clinton documents that it has cleared for release, and are only awaiting his approval. I suppose somebody could ask…Oh, but you’d need to have access for that, and somebody’s in a box. Bad luck.

Super Tuesday

Super Tuesday has come and gone. What was the point? So the Republicans are leaning into nominating somebody, but the Democrates, well...what was the point? Four delegates? All that trouble, four delegates?

Them Dems

Good for The Edwards family! You just have to respect the way he dropped out. He’s got a family to think of, children who need their mother, for however long they can have her. I do not suggest that I have any information on Mrs. Edwards’s health, but campaigns have to take a lot out of a fit person, this can only benefit her. The Edwards have shown their children some serious life enabling lessons, with both the run, bringing attention to those who don’t have the time or contacts or the energy to grab the spotlight for their plights, and the suspension of the campaign, for the good of the nation, giving us a chance to see Obama and Hillary one on one, an appreciation of the process and an appreciation for themselves. Good call.

A few days ago, I saw on TV a body language expert. Everything she demonstrated, Hillary did, in almost a cartoon-like fashion. It was distracting. Funny, but distracting. She’s so awkward! Lucky for her that CNN had the candidates seated. The height difference is also a distraction, but in a painful way.

Hillary knew or should have know that voting to go to war, is a vote to go to war. She should speak to her husband for a definition of the word is. She didn’t read the report; she didn’t do her homework. To send a nation to war, without reading the report, is a problem. Sidling up with others who also did not read the report, but aren’t trying to be president, doesn’t impress people. I don’t care that you say you were misled, her marriage is her business, and the running of the government is the American people’s concern.

If she is in fact in control of her husband, why did she wait for the old guard of the Democratic Party to chastise him first? Also does she take responsibility for his comments? This business about him protecting his picked on wife doesn’t really wash. Because people have been picking on Hillary for as long as her husband has been publicly identified as an infidel. Bill Clinton needed people not to like you, needed people to have an excuse to gloss over his conduct. They needed to play both sides of the street for political gain. Now his public eruptions, at least one aimed at a woman reporter, who was only doing her job, (where’s the NY Chapter of NOW, now?) plus the race baiting is despicable. Although Hillary Clinton herself suggests that she’s fine with Latinos declining to vote for a black man, despite the lack of historic evidence that that’s actually how they vote.

Members of the media, as an American, I can recognize the distinctions between a black man, and a white woman, Hillary’s upper lip not-with-standing. I think we can all refrain from bringing it up any further. It gives the impression that we as a nation, are overly impressed with ourselves for having the choices we do. Let’s just acknowledge that we’ve acknowledged both race and gender, and let it go. In my opinion, it’s all been said too much already. The international media is also tired of hearing it.

Bringing up Chelsea’s attendance was low. She’s older now than Monica was, and as Americans, we don’t owe her anything. She’s too precious to give interviews. She wants her privacy, fine. Enjoy the ballet, and stop being a prop. Besides it’s really bad form to remind working people that Chelsea only has to go to work when it suits her. Enough already. Where was Bill Clinton? Was he having a low-key fund-raiser, with a bunch of people who rally all on their own, with all those lovely home made signs, in a state where the candidates agreed not to participate? Perhaps he was having a discrete dinner somewhere.

What about this health records being online? Wasn’t that a bad idea in the ‘90’s? It’s still a bad idea. More of the same bad idea, remains a bad idea.

Speaking of bad ideas, Hillary Clinton recently said that she would be president and her husband, Bill, would not. She stated that there would be no co presidency, as she learned back in the ‘90’s, it wouldn’t be a good idea. The American people didn’t like it, as nobody had voted for her. Things are not the same now. Anybody who votes for her now, really is voting to put Bill Clinton back in the White House. Hillary claims her time in the White House, as first spouse is legitimate experience, therefore, putting her husband in that role would put him in charge, as she was in charge then. Her lack of a security clearance notwithstanding. When Senator Kennedy decided to endorse Obama, which Clinton did he call?