'P-Whipped by Paglia'

I thought this was funny, from Laurie Kilmartin in the Huffington Post.

You win, media. I'm voting for Barack Obama.

In fact, if Hillary Clinton gets the nomination, I'm subletting that house in France where Robert Altman was going to live after Gore lost. And while I'm not convinced that Barack Obama will be the best president, I'm positive I can't take four more years of Hillary-bashing. . . .

If she was merely the target of right-wing whackjobs like Ann Coulter or Laura Ingraham, I could remain in country. But she's not. Even FOX-defined left-wing media outlets like The New York Times, Salon and the Huffington Post (sorry, hand that feeds) have recently contributed to the ringing in my ears:

She is a brittle, relentless manipulator with few stable core values who shuffles through useful personalities like a card shark.

Camille Paglia, Salon.com, January 10, 2008

She won her Senate seat after being embarrassed by a man. She pulled out New Hampshire and saved her presidential campaign after being embarrassed by another man.

Maureen Dowd, New York Times, January 9, 2008

The lesson from the coffee shop interlude...ought to be summed up in a new slogan. "It's Not About You, Honey."

Judith Warner, New York Times, January 10, 2008

So the New Hampshire race is now officially too close to call, Hillary's hypocrisy running neck and neck with her cynicism. Be very afraid, indeed.

Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post, January 7, 2008

She is a shameless borrower of other candidates' good stuff. ... it's probably only a matter of time before she announces the sudden discovery of long-lost Kenyan relatives.

Gail Collins, New York Times, January 10, 2008

I don't get it, she seems like a capable enough senator. Maybe I'm dumb, maybe Hillary Clinton is, as Don Imus says, Satan. Yet despite all this hostility, she was the presumed frontrunner for months, and the Comeback Kid on Tuesday night. I don't know how she does it, but I do know that she's doing it without me. Because all they've got on Obama is his middle name.

I liked this comment from one of the readers:

The whole problem with Salon.com is summed up by the fact that they actually think there's still someone somewhere in the world who cares what Camille Paglia thinks or even if she's still alive.

More comments:

Maybe I'm wrong, but bloggers on this site seem to repeatedly blame Hillary Clinton for the insanity of left and right extremists who are threated by the fact that she's an intelligent, competent, hard-working, successful U.S.Senator; she's kept her family together through think and thin over the years; she has legions of long-time friends; and she's blessed with a full rich life.

As she has said, "I don't need to live in the White House again. I don't need any more power and influence. I'm already a celebrity. I just want to serve my country."

But bloggers insist on using the code word "polarize" to blame this woman for the misogynist attacks she receives from the threatened extremists on the left and right who, although a small minority, make a lot of unpleasant, ugly noise.

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The right's silly, irrational hatred for Clinton is really just a bonus reason to vote for her. Of course a lot of so-called liberals think they're being hip by buying into the media caricature of Clinton... I say we stop letting the vicious right-wing minority stop dictating political narratives for us. [I couldn't agree more.]

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Welcome to Washington High School. . . .

Let me disagree on policy. Let me get upset because of the immoral misuse of power on the job. But don't push peer pressure on me to just pile on a target of belittlement, "just because."

I don't care if Hillary is warm or not. She's not running to be my mom or my girlfriend.

I don't care about what Bill is doing with his sexual organs; in fact, I don't care what other people are doing their sexual organs either -- that's way too much information on stuff that has no personal bearing to me.

I'm sorry but this BS being pushed is too much to tolerate.

Give me the facts, and I'll make my own logical and moral judgements, please.

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Exactly. People who dream of a feel-good "uniter" are as shallow and superficial as those who voted for GWB because they said he'd be more fun at a barbecue or that his wife was pretty. Now the left-leaning version of that ilk is moving to Sen. Obama because his speeches are thrilling. I find his speaking impressive, too, but he's not ready to be president, he hasn't worked long enough to be president, and he doesn't deserve to be president in 2008.

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What a superb response to a great post. Thank you for saying what I'm too weary to find the words to say myself. It's been a long, brutal week on the message boards. ;D

Keep speading the wisdom . . . !

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The problem is not actually with Senator Clinton, but lies with the right wing conspiracy she so aptly identified a few years back. They are the ones who try to stir up fecal matter to throw.

She's actually a highly accomplished woman, with a resume in the political world that apparently doesn't include any corruption. However, if she wins the Presidency, I'll expect her to choose John Edwards as AG.

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Just for the record. I follow Salon.com regularly, and Paglia is a long, long way from representing the views of Salon readers. (Many readers skip any Paglia entry to go straight to the letters from readers--it's a form of blood sport for otherwise civil folks with advanced degrees.) Her screed against Clinton showed that, far from being the fearless contrarian she fancies herself to be, Paglia couldn't be more in line with the conventional thinking of the Washington media.

Among women, it seems like there are 3 groups when it comes to HRC:1. Supporters: older women (and some younger) who identify with some of Clinton's circumstances and dilemmas;2. Ambivalent: largely younger women who aren't thrilled with Clinton's positions but who do feel some degree of pull with the idea of a female head of state in the US (no more American Daddy as the unspoken job description);3. Haters: women like Paglia and Dowd who seem driven batty precisely by the fact that HRC is a woman. This is mysterious to me--Clinton's tenacity as a woman in there fighting the cretons is what I admire more than anything about her.