I left the best comment, by far, on this site.... I do like the one about , though
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/02/is-obama-using.html?cid=102459386#comment-102459386
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Is Obama Using Sexist Language?
February 16, 2008 11:30 AM
Earlier this month, speaking at Tulane University, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, said this about the attacks coming his way from Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY:
"You challenge the status quo and suddenly the claws come out," Obama said.
The CLAWS come out? Really?
Then yesterday Obama told reporters who had asked about Clinton's latest attack ad, "I understand that Senator Clinton, periodically when she's feeling down, launches attacks as a way of trying to boost her appeal."
That prompted some female TV reporters to question the language he was using.
According to this unofficial transcript, over at MSNBC, Andrea Mitchell and Norah O'Donnell seemed to suggest Obama may have been -- if not playing the gender card, then using language women voters might find offensive.
Language such as "when she's feeling down" "periodically" she "launches attacks."
Nora O'Donnell: "He said, 'I understand when she's down, that she makes these kinds of attacks.' It's getting a little personal."
Andrea Mitchell: "It's getting a little personal and, very frankly, you know how deeply we interpreted every comment to look for some sort of racial motivation before South Carolina. A lot of people said it was there. But, you know, when you start describing a female candidate as being 'down' and 'striking back,' I don't know, that's a little edgy, don't you think?"
Nora O'Donnell: "Yeah. And I think there's gonna be a lot more comments about that."*
Pro-Clinton blogger Taylor Marsh writes that words like this, in her view, indicate "a way of thinking about women. A way of demeaning women in power; even saying we're not up to the job. Seriously, Senator Hillary Clinton is a woman running for president. Not some emotional menopausal diva popping pills because she's depressed she broke a nail."
"Claws"…"feeling down"...I find it hard to envision Obama using the same language if he were facing, say, former Sen. John Edwards, D-NC.
But what do you think?
-- jpt
*(Note: that is not an official MSNBC transcript)
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User Comments
Posted by:
stevem | Feb 16, 2008 12:08:10 PM
Mary if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Sorry, guess my claws came out.
Love,
Cat Scratch
My God in Heaven! Exactly how far will we reach to find something in the spoken word?
It is so often embarrassing to be a U.S. citizen, for the nonsense that spews from the public and the media.
Does the reference to "periodically" really reference a menstrual cycle (to a menopausal person)? Is "feeling down" really restricted to the female of the species?
Regarding "claws," would it have been beter for Senator Obama to have used the phrase "fangs and claws bared?"
Folks, how about we all focus on what is truly important? How about fighting off the Bush/Cheney-
induced recession? How about securing our borders and purging our country of the millions of criminals who've brazenly breached those borders? How about providing some real support to our military by pulling them the h.e.l.l. out of Iraq? How about picking up the pieces of our Constitution that George Bush chose to tear up and saturate with his urine of arrogance?
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Paul | Feb 16, 2008 12:01:47 PM
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