A Farewell to the ‘Hillary Nutcracker’ and Other Obscenities

[Elspeth]

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/13/8917/

I will not miss seeing advertisements for T-shirts that bear the slogan “Bros before Hos.” The shirts depict Barack Obama (the Bro) and Hillary Clinton (the Ho), and they are widely sold on the Internet.

I will not miss walking past airport concessions selling the Hillary Nutcracker, a device in which a pantsuit-clad Clinton doll opens her legs to reveal stainless steel thighs that, well, bust nuts. I won’t miss television and newspaper stories that make light of the novelty item.

I won’t miss episodes like the one in which the liberal radio personality Randi Rhodes called Clinton a “big f—in’ whore” and said the same about former vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro. Rhodes was appearing at an event sponsored by a San Francisco radio station, before an audience of appreciative Obama supporters-one of whom had promoted the evening on the presumptive Democratic nominee’s official campaign Web site.

I won’t miss Citizens United Not Timid (no acronym, please), an anti-Clinton group founded by Republican guru Roger Stone....

[islandmkl]

1. will you miss the race-baiting, the 'economic class' warfare, the 'not ready' to lead...

the kitchen-sink?

[leveymg]

2. I won't miss the racist, Reagan Dem voter suppression that IS her campaign.

She's more effective at vote suppression - she's making it socially acceptable for the Reagan Democrats to NOT vote for Obama - than any Republican could because she seems to bespeaking from within the party.

She's outed herself as a turncoat -- no better than Liarman, and probably more destructive because she reaches more voters.

[Elspeth]

3. You don't get it, do you.

It's about how women in general are regarded; what is considered fair game to use to attack women and what isn't considered fair game for attacking men, even African American men like Barack. It's not really about Clinton, it's about so many "progressive" males (and some females) showing their true colors.

[northzax]

4. no, no, no

when Hillary does it, it's race baiting. that's bad. when the Obama camp does it, it's just good clean fun.

sheesh, don't you understand nothing? chicks are here for our own amusement. the awful Curious George/Obama shirt is offensive and racist, but the equivalent nutcracker is funny! sheesh, bitches just get all uppity about stuff.

[Elspeth]

5. That's about right

Learned a lot in the campaign, and none of it good.

[leveymg]

12. What's not to get? I'm not talking about HRC's gender. I'm talking about her campaign's racism and

how it gives an implicite okay for voters to use the race card.

Makes no difference if the racist message is coming from a man, a woman, or a transsexual. Racism is racism. Are you denying that her message has been racist, or just trying to change the subject?

[zazen]

7. "progressives" would never have tolerated an "amusing" Obama toy focused on his genitalia

because it would have suggested vicious, painful stereotypes about African American men. But a nutcracker focused on her genital region, focused on stereotypes about strong women, was considered a harmless gag gift.

I know, because I had a thread shut down here about six months ago or so for daring to suggest the obvious, in more vivid language, I admit. At least I've never seen the nutcracker ad on DU again. Maybe it was just coincidence, but it was an improvement.

And BTW, I can't stand Hilary's policies and pandering, wish Bill would go on an around the world tour for a few years because I'm so sick of and disappointed in him I could scream, and switched from John Edwards to support Obama here in NC. I'm a radical feminist who thought the white guy was the most progressive one of the bunch, and am still thrilled that Obama will likely be the next President of the US (barring some unimaginable horrific insanity by Bush to instigate martial law for some trumped up reason.)

Elspeth is exactly right. And, Obama might do us all a service to give an equally nuanced speech on gender (his speech on race was what brought me around to finally support him, since he actually moved beyond the old debates), give rich examples of systemic and overt sexism, and ask that people supporting him look within to ensure they aren't perpetrating this behavior. But because a lot more people secretly think sexism is okay, he might really scare voters and lose support.

[northzax]

8. he already made his position clear, sweetie

remember?

[bluestateguy]

6. I hope she also has the same outrage for the (R) racism that is already being used against Obama

nt

[Elspeth]

10. Racism? You ain't seen nothin' yet, bluestateguy.

The GE will shock you.

The latent racism in this country has been hidden under the more powerful and more "acceptable" misogynistic attacks on Clinton. But just wait until Barack has to run against the white power structure for real. Perhaps not as much will be said, although Limbaugh will certainly try "Mayor Nager" types of remarks. And there will be a lot more "Osama/Obama" slips.

But if you think you've seen racist code, you just wait. It's coming.

[leveymg]

14. Maybe. But, racism is more likely to backfire when used as a partisan attack than when used

within a Party.

Ya, we'll hear lots of ugly "slips of the tongue." Doesn't excuse her coding, one bit.

[Elspeth]

24. I think you're wrong on that.

And I think you're underestimating the hidden racism in this country.

[Elspeth]

9. Oh, and "settlement demands"-- like an ex-wife

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x358998

[Captain Hilts]

11. If sexism weren't accepted in our country, Chris Matthews would be off the air. But it's okay. nt

[Prophet 451]

16. What did Matthews say?

Not an accusation, a genuine query. I'm a Brit so I haven't seen all the coverage.

[Captain Hilts]

18. He's called HRC "Nurse Ratched," "Lady MacBeth," and "Madame DeFarge." Among other things.

[Prophet 451]

22. Yikes!

Agreed, that stuff is way over the line.

[LaurenG]

13. I won't miss that either - thankfully I haven't seen most of them yet.

Those are disgusting things.

[Prophet 451]

15. Farewell to all that

I'm actually an Obama supporter. While I think the Hillbots (as distinguished from Hillary supporters) have gone overboard with the accusations of sexism, there really was an element of sexism to her coverage even in the respectable press and further down, in the five-and-dime stores that sold this kind of junk, it was overwhelming. Thank gods, it's going to be gone now but still, the prevelence of it does suggest a problem that needs thinking about.

[TacticalPeek]

17. K&R

:dem:

Amen.

[yurbud]

19. I wouldn't mind the Hillary nutcracker if she had been cracking conservative nuts

instead of progressive ones.

[Captain Hilts]

20. You seem pretty comfortable with this sexist expression. nt

[yurbud]

21. you seem pretty comfortable swatting at PC flies instead of looking at the big picture

Should you care how Hillary is described if it is meant as a compliment as my comment indirectly was?

Do you realize how childish and petty this PC nitpicking looks in most cases?

[genna]

23. I won't miss the misogny exposed by Hillary Clinton's campaign

I won't miss the amount of animosity a woman candidates bid for the White House created?

I won't miss the number of women who identified the first possibility of a majority party's Democratic nominee being disappointed by this woman's bid becoming so divisive among women.

I won't miss the first race baiting campaign being run by the first woman candidate and a whisper campaign encouraged by blatant racially charge statements from official members of Clintons' campaign.

I won't miss the second time in 100 years where women stood in disgust like the Women Suffrage Movements progenitors saying why should the 14th, 15th, and 16th amendments stand before a woman's right to vote.


I won't miss the sheer size of hate directed against women who could see the flawed characer of this candidate.

I won't miss watching a woman hit a man as hard as she could only to be sheltered by the charge sexism when the man refused to strike her back (ie. pansy, sissy, and other taunts to a manhood).

I won't miss the first time attacks on a man's masculinity were the cost of having a woman who has 'testicular fortitude' were the first death knell for gender equality or affirmative action/access into equal treatment before the law.


I won't miss the hate inward and outward about women.

I won't miss one moment, not at all.

[Miss Authoritiva]

25. Apparently...

... reports of an enlightened post-racial, post-sexist, post-ageist America were greatly exaggerated.