Apparently, the only thing that can rise me from my politics blog slumber is my hatred for Maureen Dowd. Bill Clinton has just whisked two American journalists from their NO KO gulag nightmare–and all Dowd can think to write is another snark piece on how Bill stole the limelight from his wife.
Maureen Dowd does not rise above petty meanness. She goes out of her way to make fun of Hillary Clinton and “the subjects she most cares about: do-gooder development and women’s issues.” Gasp! Clinton has priorities in life other than character assassination! It’s beyond Ms. Dowd.
Her column is a musing on made-up psychological motivations (her column format of choice) in order to shed a new angle on yesterday’s story. But her concept is not enlightening. It’s just bullshit. I know Ms. Dowd is just trying to be funny, but her 800 words of drivel would not have seemed so clever if she had mentioned the REAL REASON why SPECIFICALLY Bill Clinton was the one to visit NO KO. The Koreans told Ms. Ling and Ms. Lee that they wanted former prez Clinton to visit. The women relayed this message to their families, who relayed this message to the relevant authorities. It wasn’t Bill’s secret coup of his wife’s spotlight. No political jostling between Gore, Richardson and B Clinton took place. And No Ko wasn’t responding to what H Clinton said about them the other week!
North Korea simply requested Bill Clinton. That’s what there is to it. Now, any columnist worth a damn might have chosen to muse on why that is, instead of musing on false pretenses.
In the end, of course I think the press should and must criticize its people in power. And of course, I think opinion columnists can have artistic license to do that however they want to. But Dowd’s sole role on that op-ed page is to gloat with a sarcastic righteousness; it makes me absolutely want to punch her in the face. Krugman is snarky and self-righteous, of course, but he actually has things he cares about–decent healthcare for America, among other things. I don’t really care that K-man is holier than thou, because you know what? He’s a Nobel winner. What’s Dowd got? Red hair and a BAD ATTITUDE!!!
Seriously, the dude’s a petty and vicious man but his latest drama is just crossing the line. Here’s the story. A few days ago, ThinkProgress (my favorite site, fyi) blogger Amanda Terkel wrote about O’Reilly speaking at a fundraiser for the Alexa Foundation, an organization that benefits rape survivors and raises support for such issues. As Terkel wrote, O’Reilly’s presence at the event was problematic given his endorsement of victim-blaming, most notably on his radio show when he made some vile comments about Jennifer Moore, an 18-year old woman who was raped and murdered. Here’s the beacon of social consciousness on Moore’s tragic death-
Now Moore, Jennifer Moore, 18, on her way to college. She was 5-foot-2, 105 pounds, wearing a miniskirt and a halter top with a bare midriff. Now, again, there you go. So every predator in the world is gonna pick that up at two in the morning.
But, of course, the helpless men! Enraged that his comments had been picked up by various media outlets, he did what any sensible person would do- Send your producer to stalk Terkel for 2 hours, all while harassing her and demanding an apology for “causing pain and suffering to rape victims and their families.” Are you kidding me, O’Reilly? Just so we’re on the same page, you sexually harassed a coworker and pretty much had to settle after it was revealed that your victim recorded many of your explicit conversations. So yeah, as a vic myself, I can safely state that the absolute last person I want to see an event about sexual violence, rape or abuse is a misogynistic asshat like you.
See, when I write/talk about the evil ways of the far- right wing machine, I’m not exaggerating. These people are vicious and their bullying ways have just gotten worse with Obama’s win. Much of it is their way of lashing out, particularly due to the realization that their ideology is deeply unpopular and marginalized around the country. Others like Limbaugh and O’Reilly are just evil people who can only be bothered with demonizing those unlike them. These people deserve no more publicity but I simply can’t help it.
A: Hmm, maybe it’s because he’s a misogynistic ass.
Seriously. Very few Republican dudes have spent this much time hating on women so I’m speechless at Rush Limbaugh’s convening of a “female summit.” The idea of a summit comes after a new public opinion poll found a huge gender gap in the radio talk show host’s favorability ratings.
46% [of American voters] have a positive perception of him with 43% viewing him negatively. There is a massive gender gap in those numbers, with 56% of men but only 37% of women holding a favorable opinion of him.
My question is, who are these 37% of women and what medication are they on? Limbaugh, however, feigned concern for the ladies.
Be ready at any moment for me to declare the summit officially underway, and we will take calls only from women who want to seriously discuss the proposition of this giant gender gap that I have, and what I could do to close it. In other words: What could I do to attract a higher favorability rating among more women in America? I own the men, and what must I do now to own women? And who better to ask than women?
I don’t usually comment on celebrity gossip for obvious reasons but I couldn’t resist this story about Jessica Simpson. Apparently, some people are horrified that Simpson no longer resembles her svelte size 2 figure. She’s gone up one size, at most. Now, the disturbing part of this story isn’t the media obsession with women’s weights- nothing new here. It’s that Simpson’s camp is fighting back and defending her weight gain as if her body belongs in the public sphere.
That being said, take a look for yourself and honestly tell me that she looks like a fat lard because I just don’t see it.
What is the deal with Republicans these days? I don’t know if it’s the massive electoral losses or the fear of irrelevancy that seems to have taken hold but the massive whine-fest about the stimulus bill is just ridiculous. Newsflash- you guys lost. Get over it and move along.
Earlier this week, party members were outraged that the $825 billion stimulus package contained funding for birth control services for low-income women. Admittedly, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s justification for such funding was rather weak. I wish she had focused more on the numbers which are actually quite positive- enacting such a policy would save $200 million over five years and $700 million over 10. Plus, aren’t Republicans supposed to be into this sort of thing since better contraception access=less abortions? The reaction from the right wingers has been hilarious. Personal favorites include Chris Matthews referring to the measure as reminiscent of the one-child policy in China and former drug addict Rush Limbaugh advocating putting up Pelosi’s pictures in motel rooms in order to deter sex. Dude, have you looked in a mirror lately?
And just for the record, yes, unplanned pregnancies among low-income women pose a huge financial burden since they are then forced to leave the labor force, thereby straining personal savings and sapping scant government resources.
Predictably, President Obama and the Democrats caved on the family planning measure, removing it from the package. It didn’t end there, though. Republicans then became upset that the stimulus contained funding for HIV and chlamydia testing. The horror! Seriously, what century are we living in? According to Republicans, any talk of sex, pregnancies and STDs is embarrassing and to be avoided at all costs. Apparently, we have a bunch of giggly fifth-graders for political leaders.
None of this mattered really because despite Democratic concessions and personal appeals by Obama, not a single House Republican voted for the stimulus package yesterday. While I would expect nothing less from a party that lacks any credibility on economic issues whatsoever, I hope this definitively ends all the talk of bipartisanship on the part of Democrats.
I’ve never actually tasted Baileys Irish Cream but I’m pretty sure I never want to. Ick.
I thought the whole point of advertising is to make the product attractive, not associate it with something, well, distasteful (for some women at least). And that’s all I’m sayin’.
