April 7, 2008

Is MSM sexist toward Hillary?

This video clips together the evidence:



Yes, of course, some of that stuff is awful, but political fighting is harsh, and if women are going to be in it — really in it, as Hillary is — they'll have to get knocked around. I'm not going to wring my hands over this. It's part of progress. Males are savaged too. It means they're taken seriously.

But see the comments on this video over on TalkLeft — a very pro-Hillary blog:
Watch this video and weep for our national discourse....

Just got through watching this with my 18 yr. old daughter and frankly, I was crying like a baby. Incomprehensible Demoralization..... That's about all I can say. Hoped it would be different for her when I brought her home from the hospital 18 yrs. ago. Some things changs, but sadly some things don't. Thanks for the post....

To see what is systematically being done to her by the press/blogosphere/public at large just fills me with such rage and such despair....

When I watched this, I teared up because finally, here is some acknowledgment of the truth in this Orwellian primary season where so many so-called progressives have remained silent during the vile misogynistic public lynching of Hillary Clinton.

I had to take a music break:

66 comments:

Ron said...

'Cause she's gonna make you see,
There's nobody else here,
No one like her
She's special,
so special!
She gotta have some of your attention,
Give it to her!

-- The Pretender, "Brass in Pocket"

George M. Spencer said...

Liela Moss is the new Chrissie Hynde.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Hillary will cry when she sees herself in those striped bell bottoms.

rhhardin said...

The audience of the MSM is sexist, that's why. ``Can the wife of a powerful man make it on her own?'' Tune in tomorrow for the next episode of As The World Turns.

It's a business.

rhhardin said...

Chrissy Hynde did Rush's theme song, if you want another music break. ``My City Was Gone.''

Rush listeners will be pleasantly startled by it if they haven't heard it.

ricpic said...

Once the aura of inevitability was breached the hyperinflated old gasbag collapsed.

The Queen is dead.

Long live the King.

Go forth and Obamanate, thou new minted bag of gas.

rcocean said...

Hillary supporters are trying to make this into a feminist issue.

Nonsense. Hillary isn't likable. Hillary got nominated because she is married to Bill Clinton. She is NOT a good politician. No man with her baggage would ever been elected senator.

And if Diane Feinstein had run, instead of HRC, she would be nominated. DiFi is a good politician.

And when did Olberloon and Chris Matthews become the MSM?

Revenant said...

I don't think they're sexist towards Hillary, per se. They're just embarrassingly pro-Obama.

garage mahal said...

This coming from someone that has google alerts sent to her at the mere mention of her name on the internet somehwere and her very own "anti-althousiana" tag labels. I keep hearing she isn't likable yet she is still getting roughly half of the vote despite the absolute fucking horror show coverage she is receiving and being out-spent 4-1. By the way TalkLeft is not "very pro Hillary" unless you consider some semblance of fairness and accuracy of facts as pro Hillary. Big Tent Democrat is one of the finest writers on the internet, anywhere. He is one of the few that has the balls to call out Josh Marshall and that whiny little fucking piss-ant Kos for their embarassing and shameful reporting on a decent Democrat in every sense of the word like Hillary.

Mortimer Brezny said...

A public lynching? Wow. Wrong social movement. Say witch-burning. Thanks.

Zachary Sire said...

Males have never been "savaged" for being male the way Hillary has been savaged for being female. That's a ridiculous statement.

I don't like Hillary, but there's no question that she has been treated like a piece of crap by the "MSM"...whatever that is nowadays,

Peter Hoh said...

There's a lot of space and time to fill on cable. One of the many reasons I get my TV from the antenna on my roof.

Meade said...

garage m: Are you sobbing? You ARE sobbing, aren't you. Better stop it now.

I'm Full of Soup said...

It's been great to see liberal Hillary supporters go nuts because othe MSM is in the tank for Obama.

Now libs for Hillary know what it is like to be a Republican candidate.

Which reminds me - CBS may outsource its news service to CNN. Some libs will say "oh the horror" but what the fluff do we need 6 or 7 liberal news networks for anyhooo?

GO KANSAS! and Jack Daniels too!

I'm Full of Soup said...

BTW, is Hillary still the most brilliant woman in the world?

I'm Full of Soup said...

Meade:

Quite perceptive of you. Or you could actually hear the sobbing too? heh.

Sloanasaurus said...

I agree with Rev. Most of the liberal media are so in the tank for Obama, all they can say about Hillary is poison. That should tell you something about the liberal media.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Shirley Jones could play Hillary if her life story is ever made into a movie. [But not in a 'C'mon, get happy!' kinda way.]

garage mahal said...

Meade
If only you were Robin Meade, and you were talking to me, then I might sob.

Meade said...

In seriousness, garage, I agree that Hillary is a decent person and a decent Democrat and it is shameful the way individuals in her own party have treated her with such disrespect. Beginning with her own husband.

Truly shameful.

Peter V. Bella said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Peter V. Bella said...

I do not buy any of the criticism of the MSM. They have given Hillary the biggest free ride ever given to any candidate in recent history. Not one of the MSM outlets- print or other media has dared to question her assertion that she has thirty five years of public policy experience. Not one has even attempted to verify, document, or fact check any of her claims. She claims as first lady she was involved in major policy decisions. OK, prove it. The only thing MSM has done is read her autobiography and that was it.

So, all the criticism and everything else; she deserves it. Until she actually documents what she has done, her campaign is the biggest fairy tale in the world. She is nothing but a cheap political joke, a liar, and a con artist.

The only reason she is even a senator is because Rudy dropped out due to cancer. If he had stayed in, he would have run and Hillary would have been a washed up has been, playing second fiddle to Uncle Festus.

Revenant said...

Males have never been "savaged" for being male the way Hillary has been savaged for being female. That's a ridiculous statement.

Come off it. If either Obama or McCain got weepy the way Hillary has, that would be it -- game over, zero chance of election. SNL would still be mocking them for it when the NEXT Presidential election rolled around.

Plus, of course, it is kind of silly to complain about Hillary's being "savaged for being female" when her major accomplishment in life was marrying Bill Clinton.

IgnatzEsq said...

Sometimes people in places TalkLeft actually say something that resonates. The phrase "weep for our national discourse..." does ring home with me.

There are still some people like me who prefer calm, reasoned campaigning and news, not 30 second snippets. I realize it's not for everyone, but the only news that I can even watch on T.V. is PBS because they go slower and actually have experts talk for more than 20 seconds at a time. It's not a republican or democratic issue; both sides have pretty much abandoned discussing issues in public or on T.V.

I just wish that there were more people like me who actually WANT boring/bland campaigns. And to discuss politics based on immigration proposals, rather than topics like 'Can Obama Appeal to a southern white women voters over 45.' Or 'McCain is really old.'

Most people here probably feel like Ann on this issue: toughen up. This makes me sigh.

Revenant said...

matthew,

The thing is, anybody can participate in the discussion of those issues today. We don't need politicians and other social elites to act as proxy-debaters for us.

Most of us have already had plenty of reasoned (and unreasoned) discussions about, say, abortion, or prayer in schools, or the war in Iraq. What we want isn't a long-winded dissertation on those subjects from a person whose chief qualification is having gotten a few million residents of New York, Illinois, or Arizona to vote for him or her. What we want is to know what position those candidates plan to back. I want to know, for example, if Obama is for or against NAFTA. I do not particularly want to know WHY he is for or against it, since I've probably sneezed more brain cells than he's ever used to think about free trade. I just want to know if he's on my side or not.

LutherM said...

Watching that video clip, I realized how much I liked "Good Night, and Good Luck", (a predominantly male picture). "Network", of course, is regarded as a classic.
AS FOR THE REST OF THE VIDEO CLIP - since it's happening to a calculating phony who seems to have miscalculated, it merely reminds me that "Things are seldom as they seem,
Skim milk masquerades as cream." Sir William S. Gilbert H.M.S. Pinafore, act 1

blake said...

I don't think the MSM can help being sexist (or racist).

But as others have said, the negativity is due to her not being the Anointed One.

Even then, she gets off easier than a Rep.

Greg Brown said...

I, too, gotta agree with Ms. Hynde and Althouse on this one.

In the Hillary video, they intersperse MSM clips with non-mainstream, reactionary, redneck, and indisputably misogynistic propaganda that's much more offensive than anything from the MSM. I'm thinking, for example, about 3:15-3:25 in the Youtube clip, which includes the very non-mainstream dropping of the "C-bomb." MSM? I don't think so. (Well, maybe there was this one time).

No one can argue Barack hasn't been inartfully but effectively slandered by the non-MSM, and to a similar, chilling extent. Haven't everyone seen this email?

KCFleming said...

The lesson most folks will learn from Hillary's fall from grace with the press is not that the MSM are not unbiased news networks but PACs for -mostly- liberal causes, but instead that this is unacceptable only because my candidate isn't benefitting.

That's why I have stopped watching TV news altogether, except for the weather.

Richard Fagin said...

Maybe Sen. Clinton deserves a vile public lynching. Some would agree with that. The "misogynist" adjective was a throw down, in the same manner as all criticism of Sen. Obama is deemed racist.

Pogo, quit watching the weather. They're shills for the global warming crowd; here in Houston, they're agitiators for the ozone fraud squad. When you see "OZONE ALERT TODAY" on freeway teleprompters, you realize just how kooky this world has become. Even the weather is politicized.

KCFleming said...

Even the weather is politicized.

Damnation.
I'll have to start watching with the sound off now.

Roger J. said...

There is a tad of anecdotal evidence out there that suggests even the lefties are tuning into Fox and listening to Rush Limbaugh to find out what is really happening with their respective candidates. Too cute.

Is HRC getting the short end of the stick on media coverage? My impression is yes, and I don't have a dog in this fight. Listened to long piece on NPR this AM, about Mark Penn's talks as consultant to Columbia with only the barest mention of Goolsbey's talks with the Canadian Consulate in Chicago. Seemed awfully one sided to me.

Laura Reynolds said...

When I brought my daughter home from the hospital 17 years ago, I hoped she's be able to look at the world and be able see reality through the chaff. Quite on her own she has seen Hillary as a women who does not deserve to represent her.

TMink said...

Save the weeping for a real tragedy. Politics is a full contact endeavor, and certainly Ms. Clinton has delivered her share of blows. Do we want, can we survive a president who cannot stand pressure?

Trey

amba said...

All's fair in politics. What's with these fainting feminists trying to claw their way back onto the pedestal?

Unknown said...

Hillary and her supporters are a bunch of little girls!

Can you imagine Margaret Thatcher whinging about how the boys are pulling her pigtails?

Dust Bunny Queen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sir Archy said...

To Professor Althouse.

Madam,

'Tis a common Error to to think that disembody'd Ghost, such as myself (dead these 250 Years and more), would have uncompass'd Powers.  Many have said to Me that surely I muÅ¿t be able to read the Future.  I must tell You, Madam, that nothing could be further from the Truth.  Nay, I am blown about on unfelt Winds, with little Volition of my own, unless I find Refuge, such as I now possess, by haunting the Brain of some accomodating Person.

I must confess, then, to having written, "That Mrs. Clinton will be elect'd President, can admit of no Doubt."  Could Anything have proven further from the Truth?  Many are now remarking on the very odd recent Performances of Mrs. Clinton, and mocking her with increasing Mercilessness & Abandon.  As a lover of the Fair Sex, I must tell you that my ghostly Hackles rise at such aspersive Behaviour.

Protective as my Nature may impel Me to be, it has long been my Principle, that the opposite Sex is at least as Rational & Capable (within the bodily Limits impos'd by Nature) as any Man.  Thus, perhaps the greatest Monarch of England was a Woman; and the late Empress of Austria, holding together, as She did, her ramshackle Realm under fierce Assault by the Prussian King, has giv'n the World a thrilling Example of Female Ability.

Altho' both of these famous Women resorted to Tears upon Occasion, 'twere only to excite & inspire the gallant Instincts of their Male Lieutenants to more effectual Action.  That Mrs. Clinton were to employ such a Device would not bother Us at all, except her Adherents should make her a Victim.  Mrs. Clinton has prov'n her Fortitude & Abilities to rise this far; and I dismiss the Claim that She hath done so only by virtue of her Husband.

Nay, what causes Me greatest Anxiety are the Signs that Mrs. Clinton may have been driv'n Mad for Vexation.  And yet who may blame Her?  She has work'd with lifelong & unstinting Effort to rise to this Moment, only to have the Prize snatch'd away by an unworthy Neophyte.  I should not pity her, as much as perceive her Tragedy.  We may only hope that she recovers her Senses enough to leave off unaccountable lying & other unworthy Behaviour, and rise again to that Level of Acumen that carried her thus far.

Wishing that your Ambitions and those of your Audience may never be thwart'd, I remain,

Madam,

Your humble & obt. Servant,

Sir Archy

Dust Bunny Queen said...

This whole thing is reminiscent of Project Runway. One day you're in... the next you're out!! (spoken by blond Brunhilda in spiked high heels)

Seriously. Hillary had all the press behind her and she could walk on water: but when a new and shinier penny comes along they drop her and rush like the mindless lemmings that they are to follow the next better new and improved brand.

Are they sexist towards Hillary. You betcha. The were sexist when they were supporting her and now that they are supporting Obama (because he is Black...don't deny it) they are sexist in their tearing down. I don't care for either of them but I can call a spade a spade. :-)

What a bunch of dishonest, corrupt ignoramuses we have in the press and who are in essence controlling the election processes. We deserve everything we get

ChurchSox said...

Leave Hillary ALONE! She's a HUMAN! Leave her alone, NOW!

Fat Man said...

You play identity politics and you get burned. So what?

John Burgess said...

Perhaps a better musical interlude would be this.

Zachary Sire said...

Rev said:

"Come off it. If either Obama or McCain got weepy the way Hillary has, that would be it -- game over, zero chance of election."

It doesn't matter what your silly hypothetical is, the fact is...males are never savaged for being "males" the way females are for being female. Deal with it.

Ann made a ridiculous statement and you ridiculously failed at trying to back it up with something that hasn't even happened.

And maybe that's the point. McCain and Obama haven't cried because they're men...and men don't cry. Only women cry, and the MSM ridicule them for it, criticize them for it, and treat them like crap. Female presidential candidates should be allowed to cry freely without being made fun of or called some sort of freakshow.

Hillary is a freakshow for a million reasons that have nothing to do with her gender...but of course, the MSM plays to the dumbest lowest common denominator. Ha ha...she's an unstable woman...ha ha. Talking about her policies and complete lack of experience, well, that would be too smart for them, and people wouldn't pay attention.

And if a male presidential candidate did cry (wait, didn't Dukakis?! And didn't Bush recently?!) and lost the election, that would further prove how sexist the MSM is. Why can't people be allowed to express their feminine side?!

Disgusting.

Ronnie Schreiber said...

Just got through watching this with my 18 yr. old daughter and frankly, I was crying like a baby.

Nothing like demolishing stereotypes of women as being weak and emotional.

Fen said...

Once the aura of inevitability was breached the hyperinflated old gasbag collapsed.

And this, ladies and gents, is what happens when your powerbase is grounded in FEAR. The slightest hint of vulnerability causes everything to come crashing down around you, like a house of cards.

There will come a day, very soon now, when Hillary attempts to strongarm a media outlet... and is laughed out of the room.

One down. One to go.

Fen said...

Nothing like demolishing stereotypes of women as being weak and emotional.

Hah. Good catch. Just like that Havard professor who fainted when Summers gave his lecture about women in the science fields.

Sir Archy said...

To Professor Althouse.

Madam,

Please pardon my writing a second perhaps over-long Epistle upon this Topick, but I cannot forbear to make a few further Remarks.

I may tell you that my Concern for Mrs. Clinton is driven neither by tender Pity nor partisan Zeal.  As a Ghost dead these many Years, I look upon these Affairs with an uncommon Degree of Disinterest.  Nay, my Worry extends in other Directions.

In the first Place, Is it proper that a Madwomen should be elect'd President, if Madwoman she be?  Aside from any Promises & Exhortations the Candidate would make, the first Care of the American Elector should be to ascertain if Mrs. Clinton has taken Leave of her Senses.  Several past Candidates have stood for the Presidency upon the Principle of Not Being Insane.  Given your Politicks, 'tis difficult for an honest Person to ascertain if this be in Jest or not. I would suggest every Elector take this Question in all earnest Seriousness.

Secondly, at Mrs. Clinton's age, she should expect to ascend to my Ghostly State soon enough.  I should wish that when this occurs, her Spirit may find Rest, and not be consign'd to roam this Earth, seeking what it did not find in Life.  'Tis my own Experience that having some Object or other thwarted, may cause your Ghost to attach itself to the Scenes in which this was lived out, and that You may never find Rest or Release.  This may be what the Catholicks call Purgatorio; I cannot say.

I will say that 'twould be a Shame if future Presidents & their Families & Visitors had to endure the Shade of Mrs. Clinton roaming the White House, ever calling for a recount of Delegates; for few Candidates have been so fiercely attach'd to the Notion that they should be President as Mrs. Clinton, and Few would thus seem a better Candidate to become a Spectre.

Wishing all Mankind Rest & Perpetual Light at the End of their Days, I remain,

Madam,

Your humble & obt. Servant,

Sir Archy

former law student said...

I can't believe people are still taking the "Iron My Shirt" hoax seriously. It was a stunt for a Boston radio show:

The New York Daily News tracked down the two disrupter's names, though. On their news blog called Mouth of the Potomac, Michael McAuliff gives us the scoop.

Nick Gemelli, who is 21, and born at least a decade after “iron my shirts” was an anti-women’s rights slogan, didn’t have much of a rationale. “I just don’t think a woman should be President,” he said.

At least he got some attention. His friend -- a la Bart Simpson -- said his name was Hugh Jas, but The Mouth later learned that his real name is Adolfo Gonzalez Jr.

It turns out the guys who the Daily News named work for Boston station WBCN 104.1 FM, and are members of the Toucher and Rich Show.

Ralph L said...

What I saw didn't criticize the tears as much as the calculation behind them.

Bill C certainly shed a few public tears when it suited him, or perhaps he really was feeling our pain, interspersed with other parts.

former law student said...

If either Obama or McCain got weepy the way Hillary has, that would be it -- game over, zero chance of election.

Ed Muskie had been the Democratic frontrunner in 1972, when in response to a personal attack on his wife published in the Manchester Union-Leader he appeared to cry. His momentum collapsed, giving McGovern the nomination. Hillary actually benefited from her New Hampshire tears, by mobilizing the middle aged female voters.

Regarding Penn: Why would a Presidential candidate choose a campaign strategist who is an agent for the interests of a foreign country? Is this of a piece of Bill's working for Canadian mining baron Frank Giustra, who in return for Bill joining him on a trip to meet the leaders of Kazakhstan, donated $130 million to Bill-related charities.

I would like a campaign run by Americans, for Americans.

blake said...

There's no crying in baseball.

Or politics.

Kevin E. Cleary said...

I honestly think this has more to do with a dislike for Senator Clinton personally than it does sexism. I think she rubs people the wrong way; and this, not sexism,is the root cause of any biases that may or may not be cropping up against her.

As a candidate, she has most of her husband's negatives, but is missing his most important asset: likability. I was not a fan of Bill Clinton's presidency, but he is still very charismatic and charming.

By contrast, Hillary is probably smarter than her husband, but seemingly far less affable. Bill may be just as calculating as she is, but he always managed to gloss over the calculations and SEEM sincere. Even when he was lying through his teeth (which he frequently was), his face and mannerisms read "Boy scout."

I think it is tragic that we have not yet had a woman president in this country, but Hillary is the wrong choice to be the first.

She and her husband sold feminist principles down the river to defend his dalliances, and now she is crying foul and trying to play the victim.

While some of the earlier process coverage was admittedly stupid (What color blouse will she wear? Is she showing too much/not enough cleavage?), her candidacy's biggest hurdle is her personality.

If she does somehow manage to claim the nomination, she will inevitably join the illustrious company of smart but unlikable candidates like Al Gore & John Kerry. Did anyone blame sexism for their defeats?

Revenant said...

It doesn't matter what your silly hypothetical is, the fact is...males are never savaged for being "males" the way females are for being female. Deal with it.

What does "being female" translate to in English? Irrational mood swings? Crying in public? That's what Hillary's getting attacked for, and men (rightly) get attacked for that sort of thing too.

If that's "being female" (and I don't think that it is) then politicians shouldn't "be female". They should act like emotionally mature adults.

MadisonMan said...

They should act like emotionally mature adults.

What? You mean they shouldn't cry like a baby when they see something that alleges sexism towards Hillary!? Isn't that what all emotionally mature adults do?

Revenant said...

Which of Hillary's supporters was crying over the sexism allegations? I don't pay enough attention to her crowd to have noticed.

MadisonMan said...

rev, from the post above:

Just got through watching this with my 18 yr. old daughter and frankly, I was crying like a baby.<

Ann says it's a comment from TalkLeft.

Revenant said...

Oh yeah -- duh. My bad. :)

Anonymous said...

yes, women in politics do have to toughen up in order to be considered on the same playing field as men, but everyone knows women are more emotional, so what's so wrong about her getting a little teary-eyed?? especially being that she's the first woman to have ever gotten this far? frankly, she sounds more like a leader to me when she speaks than anyone else does INCLUDING any of the men

greta said...

Are you kidding? Women have to take some punches. Yeah, ok. But women are not just taking some punches, neither is Hillary taking the punches that are expected in a campaign. The media is being vile, vicious, filthy, poisonous, and is destroying one candidate and giving another a gilded pass. Obama is being salvaged? Sorry, I have to laugh at that one.

greta said...

Savaged, savaged, saveged. Stop with the justifications. There is no excuse for what is happening.

Daryl said...

Do you remember when Hillary was smirking about how much fun the campaign would be once the attack ads started in earnest?

If you can't stand the heat, go back into the kitchen.

Meade said...

blake said...
There's no crying in baseball.

Unless you're busted for steroid use.

Fen said...

The media is being vile, vicious, filthy, poisonous, and is destroying one candidate and giving another a gilded pass.

Republicans have been subjected to this for decades. Get over it.

former law student said...

There is no excuse for what is happening.

There is no excuse for Hillary's using sympathy to garner women's votes by playing the "Those mean boys are picking on me" card. If you can't stand the heat, etc.

blake said...


Unless you're busted for steroid use.


Hilary's using steroids?

former law student said...

Hilary's using steroids?

Her face seems unnaturally smooth and filled out these days. She might be taking one of the cortisones.