POLITICS - We're (still) being forced to swim in the muck of Anthony Weiner's sextcapades, and now we know who's at fault. It's Hillary Clinton. Weiner's wife Huma Abedin is standing by her man, and the press and pundits alike are saying it's because she took lessons from Hillary, who endured husbandly sex scandals of her own.
The Hillary Haters have been kinda quiet since she left her post as secretary of state, so they're delighted with a new scandal that's ready-made to implicate her by association. Writing for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Christine M. Flowers said Huma's job as an aide to Hillary was the reason she married the Peter Tweeter in the first place. Huma "has taken a page from her pseudo-mama's dog-eared book" to further her own political ambitions. Wow.
It's all a windup to the 2016 elections. From now until a year from November, expect more by the month.
Last time around we saw Hillary nutcrackers and signs at her rallies saying "iron my shirts." That's tame stuff compared to what's coming. Sexism and misogyny will reach new heights -- though it's hard to imagine topping Rush Limbaugh's invention of a "testicle lockbox" he says Clinton owns. It represents "the worst characteristics of women... totally controlling, not soft and cuddly. Not sympathetic. Not patient. Not understanding. Demanding, domineering, Nurse Ratched kind of thing."
The attacks won't all be personal. There will also be policy failures. Case in point -- Obamacare. If it fails, it will be because Hillary tried it before and muddied the waters for reform. If it succeeds, it'll be because it's different from that crazy Hillarycare -- guess that proves how wrong she was.
NBC has already put its oar in the water, announcing a four-hour miniseries based on HRC's life. Robert Greenblatt, NBC's entertainment chairman, says the program will include parts that are both "supportive and critical." But he added in a pre-emptive slap-down that he didn't expect Mrs. Clinton to comment on it, and doesn't expect her to endorse it. The message? Good girls don't talk back. A snippet about the show in the New York Times was accompanied by a photo of an angry Hillary pointing her finger at the camera. Sooo unladylike.
Not to be outdone, CNN announced a documentary a day later. The network didn't say whether it would contain material "critical" of Clinton.
The Washington Post piled on with this: "Hillary Clinton appears as an instrumental player in [the Weiner/Abedin] marriage: She encourages their (ultimately disastrous) first date and later gives Weiner an opportunity to show Abedin his better nature."
The fear of a strong woman in the White House (especially a progressive one) is palpable, and the Hillary Haters are once again out to prove it in the nastiest possible way. Get ready for the longest election season in history -- Huma's bit part is just the beginning.
(Martha Burk is the director of the Corporate Accountability Project for the National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO) and the author of the book Your Voice, Your Vote: The Savvy Woman's Guide to Power, Politics, and the Change We Need. Follow Martha on twitter @MarthaBurk. Burk blogs at HuffingtonPost.com where this piece first appeared.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 62
Pub: Aug 2, 2013
