Althouse: "If Carly Fiorina gains any traction from her barbed attacks on Hillary Clinton, the rightwing cartoons will practically draw themselves..."

May 29, 2015

"If Carly Fiorina gains any traction from her barbed attacks on Hillary Clinton, the rightwing cartoons will practically draw themselves..."

"... Carly and Hillary in a teeth-baring cat fight, Carly’s claws like a tiger’s, HRC’s eyes as red as a Demon Sheep’s, and Benghazi burning in the background. As one man tweeted, 'Let the Cat Fight begin!! Fiorina will tear Hillary to shreds.'"

One man, eh?

The quote is from The Nation, and all I can say to you right-wingers is: Don't give the lefties what they want. You do see what they want, don't you? I'm not going to womansplain it to you. If you don't see what you shouldn't do, I'm not going to help.

Cruelly neutrally yours,

Your humble blogger, Althouse

117 comments:

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Dear Leslie Sylvan,
Might want to re-think that hair.

Signed,
gender obsessed wienie.; 5/29/15, 5:07 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Typical left-wing misdirection by the Nation.

What are Ms. Fiorina's criticisms of Hillary -- on the merits?

And, in fairness, What is Hillary's response?

You don't need hypothetical catfights and non-existent, right-wing cartoons, if you keep a steady focus on the issues.; 5/29/15, 5:08 PM
Meade said...: "You don't need hypothetical catfights and non-existent, right-wing cartoons, if you keep a steady focus on the issues."

The Nation does — in order to instigate progress daily.

"As one man tweeted"...

Florida Man? Thought so.; 5/29/15, 5:11 PM
SteveR said...: Even before one is drawn they get blamed for it. Typical working from the answer backwards.; 5/29/15, 5:13 PM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/29/15, 5:16 PM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Yeah. Like the rightwing cartoons about Condi Rice.; 5/29/15, 5:22 PM
Graham Powell said...: My question for Democrats voting for Hillary because she's a woman - what if she drops out? Will you vote for Fiorina instead?

(FYI, I am a techie and did not think Fiorina's performance at HP was that great.); 5/29/15, 5:39 PM
dwick said...: The media is going to give the lefties what they want regardless of what right-wingers do... with or without your help.
And by now both right-wingers and lefties alike already know you're going to here telling them after the fact what they should or shouldn't have done because that's what people safe on the sidelines with 20/20 hindsight do.; 5/29/15, 5:53 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: @Meade -- heh, good point! But do the Nation writers have any self-awareness? The article is nothing more than, our gal is taking hits, write something quickly, anything, to deflect the blows . It certainly isn't journalism and contributes nothing to the free-exchange of ideas.

The Nation should post this disclaimer on its Magazine:

"During the election season, we will be, with some reservations, supporting Hillary Clinton. Our sole mission is to see that she is elected. True, she is way more conservative than we are. She and her husband are a bit too cozy to the banking/Goldman Sachs interests, and in 2003 she did vote to authorize the horrifically, misguided, fraudulent invasion of Iraq.

"However, her Neanderthal, reactionary, Republican opponents are far worse. They have collectively oppressed people of color for centuries, and have single-mindedly obstructed the socialist revolution that we covet. So, they must be stopped. Every single thing we write is geared towards achieving that end. Thank you."; 5/29/15, 6:01 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: It's like the bizarre "dog whistle" fantasy on that side. No one seems hear the hidden messages designed to be heard by racists but them.
There is not a lot of introspection on the Left.; 5/29/15, 6:05 PM
Will said...: It's not that she's a woman. It's that she eases sleazy corruption through every seam of her pantsuit.

She played Obama for the giant fool he is. She violated the terms of her job offer by ignoring the Memo of Understanding. She flouted the rules of good government by using her Nixon/Watergate experience to keep control of her emails and make sure they were highly curated… no pesky tape recordings of emails for Hillary. She has a shell company to keep her personal finances opaque.

It's not that she is a woman. Anyone of any sex with such a corrupt background should be ineligible for the Presidency.

If you look at her actual record, it is not too good. Being the point person for Obama's disastrous foreign policy is also a disqualifier. Relations with countries across the globe are at new lows. Red lines not enforced have emboldened Putin to annex Crimea and he is working on Ukraine. Saudi Arabia is looking for nukes. China is building military islands on South China Sea landfill.

Hundreds of women are kidnapped and sold to slavery by Boko Haram. Women in Baltimore are not doing better than 7 years ago.

Dems can write meaningless platitudes in sharpie on there hands and dress up in drag and do selfless till their heads cave in… It's the Clinton corruption, stupid.; 5/29/15, 6:15 PM
Henry said...: Ah, projection, projection. The left-wing cartoons write themselves.; 5/29/15, 6:19 PM
Ron said...: Nah, I'm lazy, go ahead and womansplain it for us Althouse....and make me a sandwich while you're at it. Don't forget the beer!; 5/29/15, 6:23 PM
cassandra lite said...: Why shouldn't "we" give them what they want? So that they won't have narrative ammunition? So what. They'll find something else.; 5/29/15, 6:32 PM
Anonymous said...: As one man tweeted, 'Let the Cat Fight begin!! Fiorina will tear Hillary to shreds.'

If this had been in the NYT, I would have said that Greg Packer should be ashamed of himself. Not sure who The Nation uses.; 5/29/15, 6:35 PM
Anonymous said...: GOP Men See Fiorina-Clinton Feud as 'Cat Fight', Sources Say.; 5/29/15, 6:38 PM
Anonymous said...: Remember how the right wing published that cartoon of a militant Michelle Obama on the cover of the New Yorker?; 5/29/15, 6:50 PM
Robert J. said...: Thanks so much for designing the next cover for the left wing cartoonists at the New Yorker. You forgot the part about how Carly and Hillary will be in a round pit and a selected group of white male Republican candidates will be sitting around in the stands cheering them on.; 5/29/15, 7:20 PM
Doug said...: Done with Althouse. Adios. Finally figured out what her game is. The feminist coin is worth less than the pocket lint.; 5/29/15, 7:21 PM
furious_a said...: With Clinton Foundation corruption scoops breaking daily, the Right-Wing cartoons are already drawing themselves, thank you very much.

Please, Nation Magazine, tell us more about your projection issues.; 5/29/15, 7:22 PM
furious_a said...: "Cat Fight"?

I was hoping more for, well.../cough/; 5/29/15, 7:31 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/29/15, 7:38 PM
Jay Vogt said...: I was unaware that there were any "right wing" cartoons. They sound fun. Could someone recommend one?; 5/29/15, 7:43 PM
rhhardin said...: Women vote as a bloc for the wrong reasons, Althouse is saying.

We knew that.; 5/29/15, 7:45 PM
chickelit said...: LOL, Ron!; 5/29/15, 7:51 PM
Big Mike said...: @Althouse, could you please advise a party that believes in free speech who, precisely, should restrain the cartoonists and how they should do that? The Democrats could easily succeed in muzzling Tom Toles and other left-wing cartoonists, but surely you are aware that Republicans don't do that sort of censorship.; 5/29/15, 7:55 PM
chickelit said...: I finally watched that "Demon Sheep" ad. It was too long!

I was a "chem techie" in the Si-Valley in the late 90's but got out before the 2000 crash. I don't think HP did any worse than the S&P did at the same time. Anyways, it's really, really lame to look at HP's stock price at that time and blame her.

Fiorina is saying things about Clinton which deserve to be taken seriously. As long as Clinton is in the race, people will listen. But if Clinton drops out, what then? She will have to retool her message.; 5/29/15, 7:57 PM
Big Mike said...: @Jay Vogt, go to daybydaycartoon.com; 5/29/15, 7:58 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Not sure what Ann is claiming here. Is it that Carly's attacks on Hillary! are somehow illegitimate because she is a woman? Fiorina is uniquely positioned to go after Clinton here because she is the one GOP candidate who won't automatically be called a bully for attacking the Clintons. Ann seems to be suggesting that just isn't fair to Hillary! Never mind that she appears to be the most corrupt candidate trying for the Presidency in maybe the last two centuries. Pointing this out is either being a bully (if male) or unfair as a catfight (if female).

The timing here is interesting. Fiorina Is landing blows right now. She follows Clinton around, and offers to answer any questions anyone wants to ask her, emphasizing by that that Clinton has essentially refused to answer and questions that aren't softball questions preamp proved by her campaign staff. Carly is able to say, yes, it is time for a woman President, just not one this corrupt, with no real positive accomplishments other name (excluding winning office titles).

Realistically, I think that Fiorina will much more likely be the GOP VP candidate. This sort of attacks are just the sort of thing that VPs are delegated to do, plus she actually has enough management experience, and maybe the right type, to help get control over the out-of-control federal bureaucracy (yes - Mitt Romney might be better, but won't be on the ticket this time).; 5/29/15, 8:16 PM
chickelit said...: Ardent Clinton supporters seem to want to have politics without contention, utterly without questioning their own presumed candidate. Perhaps they think that partisanship is exhausting, draining, and a waste of time. But they need to somehow understand how unusual that is for a non-incumbent. Imagine if Jeb were running alone, anointed and essentially unopposed by other Republicans. Isn't that just a little creepy and strange?

Maybe Hillary is the first non-incumbent incumbent. I'm not old enough to remember a parallel. But if she's like an incumbent, aren't people correct in assuming that she will be just and extension of her husband's terms?; 5/29/15, 8:17 PM
Heartless Aztec said...: The only thing lacking would be jello in the ring.; 5/29/15, 8:17 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Jay - Michael Ramirez.; 5/29/15, 8:23 PM
chickelit said...: @April: I just occurred to me that perhaps the Clintons need all that money to protect themselves from blackmailers. That would explain why blackmail is apparently no longer a crime. You can't prosecute against it at a Federal level.; 5/29/15, 8:37 PM
chickelit said...: Not that it was a crime taken off the books, it's more a case of selective enforcement of laws.; 5/29/15, 8:38 PM
Mr. D said...: Carly Fiorina is pursuing her own agenda. She clearly learned some things from her previous campaign against Barbara Boxer. Good for her.; 5/29/15, 8:46 PM
averagejoe said...: Althouse stands ready to enforce republican party speech codes- got it. Thank heavens we have a double agent ready to help us not offend democrat party members. Althouse ain't no wise tahrred!; 5/29/15, 8:49 PM
cubanbob said...: @April: I just occurred to me that perhaps the Clintons need all that money to protect themselves from blackmailers. That would explain why blackmail is apparently no longer a crime. You can't prosecute against it at a Federal level."

Chicklite it's only true if you are a high level democrat. Denny Hastert has no such luck.; 5/29/15, 8:53 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Well, we don't have Doug to kick around anymore, so we got that going for us.; 5/29/15, 9:04 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: @ Chickelit.
It's ironic that once upon a time Bill placed himself in positions where he could have been blackmailed easily. I often think that the Clintons are paying all sorts of people off for favorable treatment. Just recently Ron Fournir changed his tune. Curious.; 5/29/15, 9:07 PM
Michael K said...: "True, she is way more conservative than we are."

Are you serious ? Hillary ?; 5/29/15, 9:22 PM
Sebastian said...: We've got the Progs pegged pretty well. All they've got is projection.

Not that it makes any difference.

Re cartoons and AA advice: Unlike the Red Brigades, we don't march in lockstep. Nor do "we" give orders to cartoonists.

"Cruelly neutrally"

Sorry, but this is getting old.; 5/29/15, 9:39 PM
Jaq said...: We have been warned people. Let's try, if we can somehow restrain our lizard brains, to aspire to the lofty standards Democrats maintained with Sarah Palin. Not sure we can do it. Maybe we need to go to finishing re-education camps so that we can raise ourselves to that level.

A good model for respectful treatment of women would be garage. His thoughtful discourse on the sensitive issue of sexual harassment should be an example to us all!; 5/29/15, 9:51 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: @ Michael K

"True, she is way more conservative than we are."

Are you serious ? Hillary ?
------------------------------------------

The Nation? They probably are still defending Josef Stalin from the Ukranian Famine in the 30s. They are hard core Stalinists.; 5/29/15, 10:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Two women enter, one woman leaves. I will pony up for a cage-side seat.; 5/29/15, 10:07 PM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/29/15, 10:10 PM
n.n said...: The same thing they did to Palin and others. They will either discover or manufacture a violation of principles until public perception either matches or supersedes reality. They are inviting mortal, fallible individuals to commit seppuku with their principles. While pro-choice doctrine will shield them from a counterattack, and will selectively resurrect, comfort, or forget their fallen followers.; 5/29/15, 10:33 PM
richard mcenroe said...: Carly Fiorina is great at running a catfight, but as she demonstrated in CA, she sucks pondwater at running a campaign.

Sound bites and #hashtags do not a leader make. Surely we should understand that by now.; 5/29/15, 10:46 PM
Known Unknown said...: "They have collectively oppressed people of color for centuries"

What a fucking maroon. Harriet Tubman was a Republican, asshat.

If you can't get basic history correct, the rest of your drivel is worthless.; 5/29/15, 11:01 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Anybody with money near Denver ought go to the http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Conservative_Summit and express my point of view in a non-fuckedup manner.

Ya fall uh*?

*Doyle Lonigan in The Sting meaning to say "you follow"; 5/29/15, 11:07 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: EMD you couldn't be more wrong.

By accepting that over centuries "they" did something, like the Catholic Church has endured for a score of centuries, you fallacize the idea "they" can do anything over their lifetimes beyond what only God could enact.

Crack Emcee posted a great rebuttal to this, which is easily ascertained as flawed and yet was still original and creative enough to me and my Ginger roots to conceptualizer the demons.; 5/29/15, 11:14 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Okay okay that last comment was off base.

I post nearly only unsober, you will accept, then appreciate, then beg me to impregnate your offspring.

Again, I have splooge to spread in Denver, and I consider the Three Stooges not 'a' but the greatest role model save Buckley a man could envision.; 5/29/15, 11:19 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Who you thinkin' 'bout after all these years? That's right, you're know thinking of the Three Stooges.

Because Althouse had an opinion of which the idiocy has become supplicated compared to the notoriety, I thought of my bro's Curly and Larry.

Fuck Moe. Moe ain't shit compared to Ricky from Trailer Park Boys, even if Moe was the inspo yo.; 5/29/15, 11:22 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Uh oh.

Oh dear.

Somebody got splaining to do.

And they will do it via tort by all female advocates, Judges, juries, and witness.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mens_rea

"Mens" fucking fuckitty fuck fuck "rea" is guilty eh?

Okay how 'bout you pay me $7,980,999 for the sexist misandry, $649,639 for my mental anguish, $5,333,741 (and change) for the law tax, verbiage for which all 'y'all ought be thanking me.; 5/29/15, 11:51 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: You will not find, even if your jerkin' ass were predisposed to it, idiot men not capitalizing on their rightfully gained (3 years justifies putting innocent men to death, for starters, because why is Mosby there and niggers dying?)

Okay I just typed that, no one else was here at my IP, and I am frightened and scared.

Am I racist?

Should all my thoughts perish in order to better the world?

I just can't ever believe that, which is human. Think of the Arab Muslims raping 9 year olds per Muhammad's marriage to that girl, Aiesha of something.

Oh, she don't matter.

Well, you are probably properly right seeing as how I can't claim things that, hah!, if we're literally claimed as opposed to assumed could someday help someone somewhere.; 5/29/15, 11:58 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: "If Carly Fiorina gains any traction..."

Fiorina rides a Caterpillar>... these politicians, they'll do and say anything.; 5/30/15, 12:00 AM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Beauty, defined here as unCrack, hasn't a place in Islam after their ugly transformation.

Billion plus people wanting what most other humans have longed for, understanding deathly sacrifice on a personal level I hope diversity incubates more than healthy black babies Magie Sanger wanted dead.; 5/30/15, 12:01 AM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Maybe it's more important now than before or in the past.

You don't know.

Arguing from ignorance works, contrary to most everything Cunting Thomas writes about on his blog.; 5/30/15, 12:20 AM
Guildofcannonballs said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/30/15, 12:31 AM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Steve Jobs is Rush Limbaugh's hero, not William Frank Buckley Junior and his "flaws."

Fuck Rush.

Fuck Jobs.

Buckley is my hero (non-but-not-un-military by any means) and Rush makes money.; 5/30/15, 12:32 AM
chickelit said...: richard mcenroe

Carly Fiorina is great at running a catfight, but as she demonstrated in CA, she sucks pondwater at running a campaign.

Sound bites and #hashtags do not a leader make. Surely we should understand that by now.

I'm sorry but exactly why did you vote for Boxer over Fiorina?; 5/30/15, 12:59 AM
chickelit said...: I mean, speaking of stumps, what on earth did/do people see in Barbara Boxer?

I once had a discussion over coffee with a former (now dead) Althouse commenter about this. I still don't get it.; 5/30/15, 1:02 AM
Guildofcannonballs said...: I am racist. Not proud, but ignorant and horrified.

I don't know anything about Baltimore, the death.; 5/30/15, 1:06 AM
chickelit said...: NotquiteunBuckley said...

Okay okay that last comment was off base.

I post nearly only unsober, you will accept, then appreciate, then beg me to impregnate your offspring.

You know, I invented a new chirbit character based on you; he's supposed to be a cross between Foster Brooks and WFB: W. Foster UnBuckley.

It's a work in progress still in need of refinement but I encourage you to carry on.; 5/30/15, 1:12 AM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Okay this is difficult for me, but I have got to try and salvage something decent out of this horror.

Hunt Thompson used a handgun within range of his relatives, not a shotgun.

My apologies for the misleDing.; 5/30/15, 1:39 AM
Guildofcannonballs said...: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-hunter-thompson-bar-20150529-story.html; 5/30/15, 1:40 AM
gadfly said...: The Nation must have looked long and hard for that unflattering photo of Carley - and they most likely photoshopped the HRC pic to give her a chin.; 5/30/15, 1:42 AM
clint said...: There have already been numerous right-wing comics about the two women.

They don't have anything to do with cat fights.

They're much crueler.

They show Hillary looking old and tired, and Fiorina looking young and energized. Ouch.

Example: Baggage
Example: book covers; 5/30/15, 5:04 AM
Bob Ellison said...: AprilApple, that first post got me laughing out loud. Brava!; 5/30/15, 5:43 AM
rwnutjob said...: "But at the press conference-ambush that Fiorina held outside a South Carolina hotel where Clinton was speaking"
Seriously?
Maybe if we had a press who asked H> a freaking question. Ambush. smh; 5/30/15, 6:27 AM
Michael McNeil said...: “Cruelly neutrally”
Sorry, but this is getting old.

Reminds me of a conversation in Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress between the computer (Adam Selene, the leader of the lunar Revolution) and the man (Manny? I forget), concerning the nature of wit. Manny points out that humor is oftentimes a one-time thing. “Say it once,” as he put it (quoting from memory), “and you're a wit. Say it twice, and you're a halfwit.” “Geometric progression?” the computer asks. “Or worse,” is the reply.

It occurred to me that that point might have merit here too.; 5/30/15, 6:58 AM
Rusty said...: Fiorina is just prepping the battlespace for the boys. When she's done only the die hard dogmatic feminists will still be following Hillary. The dems should be preparing the next female democrat candidate.; 5/30/15, 7:02 AM
lonetown said...: Hillary doesn't have to answer questions because she is being picked on by a woman!

Really, what nonsense.; 5/30/15, 7:05 AM
Jaq said...: Chikelit, that Foster Brooks, WFB bit was pretty good.; 5/30/15, 7:06 AM
SomeoneHasToSayIt said...: Since a pretty big part of the Presidency is as Commander-in-Chief, all female candidates start with a pretty tough row to hoe. Ex-military myself, I would have had no issues at all with a Margaret Thatcher or a Golda Meir, so I don't agree with Ayn Rand when she said a female CiC was an abomination (not her exact word, but close - maybe 'unthinkable'?).

So, Hillary? You gotta be f*ckin' kiddin' me. Fiorina? Yeah, I could see it. She fights. I like the cut of her jib.

But 8 years of Walker/Fiorina, then Fiorina/???. Now, THAT'S the ticket.; 5/30/15, 7:20 AM
Vet66 said...: I agree with 'someonehastosayit'. Fiorina is a leader I would follow. Gloves off and every woman/man for themselves. Forget P.C. and get down and dirty. Winner takes all and nice folks (Romney?) finish last. I can almost hear and savor the weeping and wailing from the left and progressives and the whining from metro-sexual men who left their manhood to wither and die on the altar of political correctness. Take lessons from Newt and Rand Paul on how to handle the perfidious democrats and their media drones. As a Veteran, she fills the bill and should be encouraged to go all-alynski on the opposition. Do it!; 5/30/15, 7:42 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: I just learned that some actress named Rashida Jones, apparently very successful, has affixed her well-earned brand and prestige to some new documentary claiming to warn young women about the dangers of getting mixed up with pornographers.

Pretty hard not to be cynical about the motives behind it all.

Pretty hard not to be contemptuous of the pretense of serving the public good while serving up a heaping pile of prurient interest.

Pretty hard not to feel disappointed about seeing that dynamic going on, to varying degrees, pretty much everywhere you look.

Though some people think it's funny.; 5/30/15, 7:50 AM
Anonymous said...: Still with the "creuelly neutral" gimmick, a day after saying "good work" to a state that banned the death penalty.

Do you even pay attention to what you write? Is consistency just not that important to you? Do you think nobody notices that there's no there there?

Pretty amusing, honestly.; 5/30/15, 7:55 AM
SGT Ted said...: So, The Nation publishes a leftwing cartoon of right wingers and Ann lectures the right wingers.

There are and will be, plenty of lefties that will use the cat-fight narrative. Starting with Leslie Savan at the Nation. Now that she has issued this Narrative Talking Point, I bet we start seeing it appear all over.; 5/30/15, 8:01 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: I am not fully convinced that Hillary even has a vagina.

One of those things we are just expected to believe.

OK: just trying my Andrew Sullivan hat on.

I dry-cleaned it first.

I am Laslo.; 5/30/15, 8:04 AM
Tank said...: I am with Laslo.

I demand that Laslo be granted an inspection of the Big V.

And not a pdf.

Laslo, we await your report.; 5/30/15, 8:07 AM
Anonymous said...: Althouse would benefit from watching some professional wrestling if she's going to try to play a character. The success of a gimmick isn't how many times you repeat yourself, it's whether anyone believes you're legit, Professah.

How many people here actually believe you are "creuelly neutral"?

Just thinking about it makes me laugh. It's certainly in the single digits.; 5/30/15, 8:10 AM
buck smith said...: I support Walker and I donated $9 to Fiorina. And I have not donated anything to Walker. Fiorina is a good candidate. The thing she did with domain names shows some natural skill with hostile media which a repub candidate has to have. She speaks for smaller government and more freedom. Al this feminist stuff is smokescreen. Fiorina is, right now, the most aggressive GOP candidate and she is effective with her "aggression" I can see her winning it. But maybe the lack of political office history will hurt her, don't know. It is a long time since we had a president that was not a governor or senator previously.; 5/30/15, 8:16 AM
Moneyrunner said...: From what I’ve seen of Fiorina she has a remarkable ability to marshal facts and speak of specifics instead of generalities. Compared to Obama - “You’re likeable enough Hillary” – Fiorina is a teddy bear. Obama has that female tendency to snark, to call names, to engage in a catfight with his opponents. To fight dirty. To have women fight for him (Candy Crowley).

Wonder if he’s a female in a male body?

But back to Ann’s point, I suppose women see a cat fight when two women have a dispute. What is it? Hormones? The inability to think clearly? Making everything personal? Projection?

Yours in cruel neutrality,

Not a law school graduate like the leading women of Baltimore.; 5/30/15, 8:17 AM
Cynicus said...: The left want to turn Hillary into a victim. With Fiorina, it's a cat fight. With any virile man it will be a rape. With any intellectual man it will be mansplaining or condescension. The only option is to find someone who appears to be a Boy Scout helping the old lady across the street. How about a magazine cover with Bernie Sanders imagining Hillary Clinton imagining herself being raped by three Republicans. Isn't sex the only thing the left thinks about every day?; 5/30/15, 8:19 AM
Moneyrunner said...: By the way, this may be a good time to reiterated that "Women are more likely to have serious mental health problems than men." They also repeat things.; 5/30/15, 8:21 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: I think needless repetition is unnecessary and needless.

I am Laslo.; 5/30/15, 8:24 AM
buck smith said...: There are great opportunities for tea party / libertarian ideas right now. On community police there is an opening to campaign for abolishing public employee unions. The second amendment community has openings on this issue as well.

And on foreign policy thee is a great opening to pick up the Jacksonian flag and campaign against the limited wars of Bush and Obama. A candidate can get a lot of ink by describing what a shermnaesque, total war campaign against the jihadis would look like.; 5/30/15, 8:32 AM
Rich B said...: Cruel neutrality, indeed. All the best stories from the New Yorker, the New York Times, the WaPo, and even the Nation.; 5/30/15, 8:38 AM
chickelit said...: Rich B wrote:

Cruel neutrality, indeed. All the best stories from the New Yorker, the New York Times, the WaPo, and even the Nation.

But hasn't there always been this expressed desire on Althouse's part to get back to NYC instead of the hinterlands outpost that she's stuck in? "Back to the Garden" or maybe back to the Garden State?

IMO, this blog was politically at its best when she covered Walker's travails. I say "politically" because there are other aspects to the blog.; 5/30/15, 8:54 AM
Moneyrunner said...: Can we contemplate how “Liberal” women in this administration have screwed up? Hillary, Susan Rice, Valerie Jarett, Samantha Power, Lisa Jackson, Gina McCarthy, Kathleen Sebelius and who can forget Marie Elizabeth Harf, State Department spokesman extraordinary.

It’s too soon to know how badly Lotretta Lynch will tarnish the DOJ. Or how idiotic “wise latina” Sonia Sotomayor will become as she enters her dotage.

But for people who view women in government with cruel neutrality, I would say that Liberals (and Obama who loves him a good catfight) have damaged the female brand badly enough that the current generation may have to die to erase the memory.

Have I mentioned that women suffer more from mental illness than men? Forgive me if I repeat myself.; 5/30/15, 8:56 AM
Geo. Mason said...: Dear AA,

Rather than signing off "Cruelly neutrally yours," you would be fully correct and proper to sign off many of your posts like this: "Sororally yours,"

Fraternally yours,
George; 5/30/15, 9:00 AM
Moneyrunner said...: If I were paranoid, I could imagine that the women in the Obama administration were chosen expressly for the purpose of making sure that women never again get near the levers of power; aimed directly at the candidacy of Carly Fiorina. For those who say “what about Hillary?” Forget it, she’s just collateral damage.; 5/30/15, 9:02 AM
Moneyrunner said...: You can be sure that Carly Fiorina will never utter the words "pants suit."; 5/30/15, 9:05 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Laslo,
"I am not fully convinced that Hillary even has a vagina."

There is a South Park episode you would be interested in. (The Snuke); 5/30/15, 9:09 AM
Moneyrunner said...: The only thing that will convince Laslo is physical evidence. Remember, pictures can be photoshopped.; 5/30/15, 9:15 AM
Moneyrunner said...: For those who say, "well where did Chelsea come from?" Ha! You fell for my cruel neutrality trap.; 5/30/15, 9:18 AM
ndspinelli said...: Always remember, Annie will vote for Hillary, no matter who is her opponent.; 5/30/15, 9:29 AM
David Begley said...: The thing that I so love about Carly is that she calls the Clintons crooks in a nice, clear and concise way and with a smile on her face.

She would be the perfect Vice President.

Hillary Clinton must be defeated.
Carthage must be destroyed.; 5/30/15, 9:54 AM
Anonymous said...: Blogger ndspinelli said...
Always remember, Annie will vote for Hillary, no matter who is her opponent.

**************

Yes. Because vagina.

It's a woman's way of knowing.; 5/30/15, 10:15 AM
cf said...: Andrea Mitchell's interview with Ms. fiorina this week for msnbc should be distributed far and wide. It is like a tonic for the notion of what an American woman leader might think and sound like. Wow. http://on.msnbc.com/1Ro2HoM

Fiorina responds to Mirchell's wooden, dull-eyed Clintonian rote with originality and solid thinking -- about the Middle East Now, for instance, excellent.

fiorina is so far above Clinton in caliber of leadership, so far above any cat fight matchup, it is refreshing, and I am excited for the vision of our future she generates.

Godspeed, America.; 5/30/15, 11:04 AM
Scott said...: If the Nation was really so concerned about hypothetical right-wing cartoons, they would be pushing Hillary Clinton to change her name to Mohammed.; 5/30/15, 11:57 AM
mikulin said...: It is obviously what Leslie Savan wants.; 5/30/15, 12:02 PM
richard mcenroe said...: Chickelit I didn't vote for Boxer. But Fiorina ran such a bad campaign she dragged down every other candidate on the ticket with her.

I know this from first-hand experience. I was working a phone bank for a GOP Congressional candidate. He was local, he was successful, personable, he did very well in the local debates against GOP and Dem candidates.

The the Whitman and Fiorina campaigns sent suits down to the local party headquarters to make sure the phone banks pushed Whitman and Fiorina, no matter what candidates the operators had volunteered to work for. I mean these guys were the cliché of low-rent political hacks; balding overweight white duded in bad fitting suits. But the Party was under their thumb because Michael Steele had decided that year that "White women who could self-finance" were the future of the GOP.

And I will tell you flat-out that in every call I made after that decision, I would have a great sell going on our local candidate. People were interested, and desperate for new and better representation. But the second I mentioned Fiorina: click. No disagreement, no apology, just a hang-up. Those two killed that election in CA.

So, no, I didn't vote for Boxer. But I don't kid myself that my vote for the GOP was anything other than an ineffectual act of protest at that point.; 5/30/15, 1:22 PM
JAORE said...: I think the bold, brassy feminists are saying, "Don't pick on the girl or we'll call you a meanie".

I'm sure Putin is quaking in his boots.; 5/30/15, 2:03 PM
chickelit said...: But I don't kid myself that my vote for the GOP was anything other than an ineffectual act of protest at that point.

A vote for any GOP candidate in California is an ineffectual act of protest. I know because I do it all the time.; 5/30/15, 3:29 PM
chickelit said...: A vote for any GOP candidate in California is an ineffectual act of protest. I know because I do it all the time.

A related corollary is that a vote for any Dem candidate other than HRC is an ineffectual act of protest. That is what one party, one country, one leader rule looks like.; 5/30/15, 3:33 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: @chickelit

A vote for any GOP candidate in California is an ineffectual act of protest. I know because I do it all the time.

5/30/15, 3:29 PM
----------------------------------------------

True, but it was not always like that, and can change once again.

From 82' - 98' - there were 4 consecutive GOP Governor terms - 2 for Deukmejian ( a rabid Conservative) and 2 for Pete Wilson (a moderate). But then the State went hard core left (even Governor Terminator) was practically a liberal Dem.

To change again, we're gonna need someone like Scott Walker to clean up the union messes, and put people back to work with a cool, collected professional demeanor. I'm not saying it will happen, just saying it could happen.; 5/30/15, 4:22 PM
Hagar said...: Wasn't it about 25 years ago that the California Democrats crowed they had fixed the voting district boundaries so that the verschluginer Republicans never again would be a political force in California?; 5/30/15, 4:45 PM
richardsson said...: Well, I'm not convinced that Hillary will be the Demo nominee for a variety of reasons not necessarily including her gender. She ran a horrible campaign last time and the same barnacles and parasites have latched onto her ship once again. She is completely overrated as a politician. Nor am I convinced that Fiorina will be the nominee of her party; she has the same problem as Santorum: if you can't win a statewide race in your own state, why should we choose you as our nominee for our nation's highest office? As long as the field of potential Republican candidates is as large as an elementary school class, you have to tilt the odds toward Jeb Bush BECAUSE name recognition. That could change as those who have no real business running for President drop out as the campaign unfolds and it becomes obvious. Of course, it's early and I could be wrong about all of this.; 5/30/15, 6:25 PM
richardsson said...: Oh, and one other thing. If by the middle of January, your chosen candidate is at 5 per cent or less in the polls, you need to find another candidate. I call it the Pat Buchanan rule. If your candidate is out there banging his head against the wall and he or she is still at 5 per cent or less, that candidate is doomed.; 5/30/15, 6:39 PM
robother said...: Cruella B. Neutered.; 5/30/15, 7:13 PM
Big Mike said...: @Althouse, I've been on the road all day, and I admit that I was hoping to check this post and find a response to my question from last night.; 5/30/15, 8:40 PM
chickelit said...: @Big Mike: You cannot petition Althouse with comment; 5/30/15, 9:32 PM
LakeLevel said...: The trouble with a biased press is that it doesn't really matter what Right wingers say or do. The Left Wingers will just make something up and The Press will make it stick. And so it is completely fruitless to cower in fear of the press. Be bold and the American people will take notice and be inspired. Be timid and lose again.; 5/31/15, 12:15 AM
chickelit said...: tim in vermont said...

Chikelit, that Foster Brooks, WFB bit was pretty good.

Thanks!

I just want candidates on both sides to say different things whether they mean it or not. I think we've reached a stage where even that is no longer possible. Candidates acting like deposed witnesses is a bad sign. I'm looking for "tells" that candidates want to say things but they're being told not to because of their ever present attorney-like handlers. At this point, even nuance and innuendo is better than nothing. That is partly why Fiorina--alone so far to her credit---is so interesting.; 5/31/15, 12:29 AM
Big Mike said...: @chicklet, I wasn't petitioning. Sometimes the Professor answers questions and often she doesn't. But I was disappointed she didn't answer mine and expressed that sentiment. However it's her blog and she can choose to do as she feels like.; 5/31/15, 11:34 AM
zefal said...: cassandra lite said...

Why shouldn't "we" give them what they want? So that they won't have narrative ammunition? So what. They'll find something else.
5/29/15, 6:32 PM

Ms. Althouse is slow on the uptake. The whole objective is to cow us into not confronting hillary's/democrat's corruption by attacking anyone who does no matter if it's in a flip or academic manner. Do you, Ms. Althouse, think that the Nation wouldn't go on the attack if it were done in a purely sober academic way?; 5/31/15, 5:26 PM