RE: Gerri Ferraro on the Today Show--Sexist, my ass!

[rateyes]

Gerri, Hillary wasn't "beat up on" for two hours in that first debate because she is a woman. She was "beat up on" (if that's how you must describe it--as if she is a helpless victim abused by those nasty men)---because, at the time, she was the FRONTRUNNER!

Had Obama been the heavy favorite at the time, or Biden, or Dodd, or Kucinich, or Richardson, etc. he would have been the one on the receiving end.

To claim sexism in that scenario, IMO, is sexist in and of itself.

At the start of this campaign, the Democratic Party was more than ameniable to have Hillary Clinton as our nominee. The problem is, we don't coronate nominees---we go through a process governed by agreed upon rules to nominate our candidate.

The truth of the matter is that Obama had a better strategy and ran a better campaign than did Hillary. That's just how it is.

Hillary, you were given a level playing field, and you lost. Your gender has nothing to do with it. And, it is beneath you to now have Gerri Ferraro playing the "abused victim" card. You are a stronger woman than that.

[qanda]

1. I'm watching it now

I came in late and turned back. She sounds very bitter.

[rateyes]

4. Yes, she does. I never wanted to believe it, but I think

that people like Ferraro don't give a damn about having a Democrat in the White House. If it can't be "their Democrat" than "who cares?" is the attitude that I see from them.

[nradisic]

2. Gerri need to go back into the cave...

Talk about being out of touch....

[boobooday]

3. She didn't seem too worried about sexism

When she was smugly predicting that it would all be over by Feb. 5th.

[rateyes]

5. True that. nt

[zulchzulu]

6. Ferraro is actually hurting the women's movement with her bitter tirade

A true feminist view would seem to me to want to say that there is a time when a woman could be on a debate stage and stand on her own with a few men and take it. Ferraro plays the "Poor Me" card with Hillary Clinton "getting beat up" by men. What in the hell is she implying? Should the men on the stage treat her any differently than any of the others on the stage? That would be the epitome of thinking women "can't take the pressure".

It was obvious on one of the cable news pundit shows last night (I forget which one) that a Hillary Clinton staffer said that Ferraro does not work for or represent the campaign. That was a good move.

[rateyes]

24. They should be distancing themselves more and more from Ferraro, IMO. nt

[tekisui]

70. As is Hillary hurting the women's movemont with her exploitation of sexism.

[Pryderi]

7. Hillary has wanted to be treated "sexistly."

She started when she complained early that the boys were ganging up on her, when she teared up in New Hampshire, and when she says things like, "do you realize how much longer it takes me to get ready than my two opponents. I think I should get points for working as hard as I do for spending so much time getting ready".

[Doityourself]

8. Ferraro is simply bitter. Period.

[ladjf]

9. It's about time for her to "pipe down".

[Doityourself]

11. Agreed. Her crying about someone holding up a "Iron my shirt" sign and saying if it was

"Shine my Shoes," there would have been a firestorm. She can't say that for sure because it didn't happen, yet it doesn't stop Ferraro from being pissed off about something that never happened, nor does it stop her from calling Obama a sexist for not berating the guy for holding up the sign.

Has Ferraro said anything about the various racists attacks on Obama? Has anyone heard her speak up against the "curious george" t-shirts floating about? Has Hillary or anyone in her camp?

[shaniqua6392]

16. She was correct in saying that the media response to the sign

about ironing shirts did not even make it on the radar. She was also right that if someone had held up a sign degrading Obama for "shining shoes" there would have been a firestorm in the media. I did agree with her on that point. Sexist remarks are more acceptable than racist remarks. I hope that will change someday soon, but for now it is a fact.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

30. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Doityourself]

25. It didn't happen, so I will not say what would have happened..I don't see the media screaming about

the curious george t-shirts, or even reporting on it..yet everyone I know is talking about it..and it's all over the repub and dem blogs, yet not a peep. So, her being outraged about something that happened vs something that didn't happen is moot.

Btw, the "Iron my Shirt" scene, made it on the radar, I saw it on the news more than once, and on the net plenty. Problem for Gerri is that there wasn't enough coverage or outraged, but then I don't think anything less than someone being drawn and quartered for it would have been enough. Just not enough blood on the floor for her!

[qanda]

34. If it never made the radar, then how did you and I hear about it?

It's pretty sad that she had to make up a scenario, and one so outrageous, to try to make her point. There have been plenty of terrible signs being held up about Obama-- should each one of those "make the radar?"

[shellgame26]

44. *crickets*

[EffieBlack]

62. It got a LOT of play at the time - in fact, it was part of the series of events that helped Clinton

carry New Hampshire.

And there have been a number of outright racist slurs against Obama throughout this race - up to and including the monkey shirts someone was selling just last week.

How quickly people forget . . .

Geraldine Ferraro is a pathetic surrogate - the Clinton campaign needs to get rid of her but quick.

[Glimmer of Hope]

17. I can't believe she brought that up. Wasn't it a radio stunt?

[KittyWampus]

37. yes, it was a shock jock from the area looking for some attention.

[Doityourself]

39. It doesn't matter to Gerri..she still wants Obama's blood for not speaking out about it!

[TexasObserver]

10. Geraldine Ferraro = worst presidential loss in history

That's what happens when a little known, wholly unqualified person is nominated for VP.

[Doityourself]

13. Wonder who she blames for such a big loss? The sexist no doubt.

[NightWatcher]

12. Can the term "bitch" ever be used as an insult, but in a non-sexist way?

I really think the term is appropriate in this case. She's a nasty woman (Ferraro)

[babylonsister]

14. Ferraro's on here now; love Rachel's evil eye glaring at her. I think

Gerri has 'issues' because she's lost the spotlight, too. There's just a bit too much faux outrage for me.

[Doityourself]

18. I think she's still pissed about her huge loss...and still looking to lash out

[Doityourself]

15. Thank goodness Rachel let Ferraro know "brushing the dirt off ya shoulder" isn't sexist, it's

a generational thing!

Geesh, she sees sexism everywhere..saying when Obama did it, it was being dismissive and arrogant toward Hillary-which equals sexist! Again..ugh!

Thank God Rachel Maddow was there to even things out..and Ferraro wasn't allowed to rant unchecked!

[mamalone]

22. OK, please tell me she didn't brand this as sexist????

Please.. I beg of you... How in the name of all that is normal, could she call the "brushing the dirt" as sexist? What was her thinking?

Edited to say...thank you Rachel for calling her on this:)

[Doityourself]

28. Rachel let her know it was generational ..but that didn't satisfy Gerri..even after Maddow said that

she said, it was dimissive of Hillary and that her husband didn't like it either because it was an arrogant gesture!

[mamalone]

33. urg.........

Dismissive? Well, yes it was dismissive, obviously. That is the point, sheesh. Can't he be dismissive of a political opponent without it having to relate to her gender? That's part of the political process.... she certainly did her share of this against him. We didn't like her mocking of Obama, but no one termed it racist.


You know this type of thing makes a mockery of the women's movement. Doesn't she realize how her actions now will serve to minimize truly sexist behavior in the future? Sorry for the rant... but as an older woman this stuff just smokes me...

[KittyWampus]

38. Obama wasn't dismissive of Hillary, but the CRAP she was flinging

[Doityourself]

41. Try telling that to Ferraro....lol..she doesn't get it. It was sexist for Obama to Jay-Z her..lmao

[Doityourself]

40. Agreed.

[MethuenProgressive]

49. She called the gesture "dismissive" she didn't call it "sexist"

http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=1092

[fishwax]

52. she cited it as a specific example of the sexism of the obama campaign

[chascarrillo]

56. A specific example of Obama's supposed sexist behavior, to be precise.

[Vinca]

19. It occurs to me this constant harping on sexism where it doesn't exist is

sexism. Although I'm sure there was sexism associated with Clinton, as there was racism associated with Obama, the Ferraro pity party is getting very old.

[rateyes]

26. Agreed.

[Doityourself]

29. Yep. n/t

[dzika]

20. Video of Ferraro on Today Show

http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=1092

[hokies4ever]

27. I love the look on Rachel's face at 2:30 into this video

Absolutely hilarious! Kind of a, "Are you serious?!?" type of look. :rofl:

[Doityourself]

32. She did it more than once..lol...

[Bread and Circus]

21. Hell, Hillary had home field advantage

[hokies4ever]

31. Ferraro got her digs in re: Rev. Wright and white, blue collar workers

How despicable.

[Doityourself]

35. man oh man! She even bought up his Annie Oakley comment..lmao! Damn! now thats even sexist too.

[ErinBerin84]

36. Ferraro is pathetic.

And it's pathetic that the Today show gives this a forum. I didn't see it, but...I can't believe that she said that "brushing the dirt off the shoulder" was sexist! What a fucking loon. Yes, Clinton has had the uttmost respect for Obama throughout this.. "I am WELL aware that his candidacy is based on one speech." I'm glad to hear that Rachel Maddow, a real feminist, was there.

[bcoylepa]

42. this was just sad to me

I remember going to a rally for Ferraro when she was running for VP and being so proud
but
the way she keeps putting herself out there and spewing this garbage - personally against Obama - not the media or the supporters is just plain wrong- she makes no attempt to look at the larger picture
I think she is stuck in a generational battle - she seems afraid to give it up to the next generation- seems desperate to hold on
very sad to me

[shellgame26]

43. Geraldine Ferraro

is the epitome of a privileged mediocre white women who has had everything handed to her and still has the nerve to characterize herself as a 'feminist'. Hillary at least is smart. But they both grab the coattails of their husbands into power then blame everyone for being 'sexist' when they fail miserably.

[Colobo]

45. Geraldine Ferraro- Professional loser.

[Mimosa]

46. Thanks for Nothing, Gerry. Now GO AWAY!

I watched Ferraro on CNN. Oh, YUK. She was truly bitter and subversive to the Democratic Party's cause with her threat that she might vote for McCain. No, she didn't say she'd vote for McCain but she repeatedly stressed she'd 'have to think about her choice.'

[BeyondGeography]

47. Annie Oakley, brushing the shoulder...she's got nothing

Oh, and the moderators were mean to Hillary at the debate in Philadelphia...first time ever they tried to put some pressure on a frontrunner. All because Hillary's a woman, I guess.

Embarassing.

[mdmc]

48. Gerri Ferraro -one of the greats to come out of Newburgh NY

Gotta love the hometown girl.

[Yotun]

50. I can't believe you people missed THIS:

Geraldine Ferraro (2:20): "I responded with, 'Ah, TYPICAL MALE, doesn't know the difference between 15 minutes and 2 hours'...".

Excuse me? 'Typical Male'?!?!?! Can you imagine if Obama said Hillary is a 'typical female' who doesn't know the difference between being really attacked and not, the response from Ferraro? Typical male, and especially the context in which it was used, is the only sexist remark I've seen in this campaign, and it shows Ferraro's preconceptions and biases. Here's the truth- these hardcore pseudo-feminists are like the most close-minded religious fundamentalists. For them its a girl or nothing. And like one of the idiots over at Rapture Ready who's so possesses with his wacky view of the world, that everything that happens is spun into a sign of the end times, these people interpret everything in their heads so that its an attack on Hillary. That's why Ferraro sees the dusting off the dirt thing as sexist. She doesn't know what it means or where it comes from- but instead of trying to understand it and its context, she immediately interprets it in a way that fits her world-view, where the world is a battle between male and female.

Its a psychological thing. We see things that support our worldview and dismiss things or explanations of things that don't. It doesn't matter if its not logical. Since attacking Hillary is sexist and against their pseudo-feminist ideology, then Obama, who has defeated her, is sexist, and all negative attacks on him fit his character. See a Hillary supporter accuse Obama of being a naive, inexperienced, neophyte who's going to be crushed by the Republicans when they start their attack machine, and with the same breath accuse him of being an expert, Chigaco-style, sleazy politician, who is capable of fooling half the nation with his politicking, with a terribly efficient machine in the worst kind of politics. Does it matter that the two views contradict each other? No, of course not, even when its the same person who believes both views. The fact is, they don't have any 'real' image of senator Obama and what he represents based on facts and evidence. They merely adopt a negative image that fits whatever attack comes up in their head.

What's Ferraro telling us here? That basically, whenever somebody attacks Hillary, or is in any way not completely positive, or points out hypocricy or character flaws in her, they are sexist, not correct. Thus one cannot be completely correct unless one is completely positive towards Hillary- and if you're always positive, you might as well give her the nomination. Basically Ferraro tells us we must coronate Hillary because she is a girl.

Hillary supporters talk about being respectful to Hillary and her supporters because Obama will need them in the election. What would happen if an Obama surrogate went out and directly and openly accused Hillary and her supporters of being racist. Obama supporters have been called a cult, naive, elititists, people who'll be fooled by a Chigaco politician, and everything you can imagine, merely because they didn't go along and coronate the queen.

And as an aside- I don't remember seeing that much press attention for the guy selling Obama T-shirts with a monkey and banana, so Ferraro can take her crap about the media being more sypathetic to racism than sexism elsewhere.

BTW, LOVED the way Rachel was looking at her.

[rateyes]

51. Yeah, I caught that, too, and as a male

I was offended. :evilgrin:

She can't see her own biases for the shit she creates in her own mind.

[npincus]

53. Maddow was too deferntial to Ferraro and should have rebuted her

more forcefully.

[Yotun]

54. Yep, I agree, she should have called her on her nonsense

[flpoljunkie]

55. I do not see how you cannot say the media protected Clinton by not showing how she immediately

attacked Obama during her "emotional" moment in New Hampshire. That they purposely chose to ignore her immediate pivoting to attack Obama, belies the fact the media has not protected Hillary Clinton.

"Hillary Tears Up on the Campaign Trail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIG1mJAdMv8

[Barack_America]

57. What a sad individual she is...

Racist, sexist, works for Fox, trying to undermine the likely Democratic nominee...

That's certainly not what I used to think of Geraldine Ferraro. Very sad that she's let her reputation crumble like this.

This isn't even about Hillary anymore, it's about Geraldine getting more attention. The parallels one can draw between she and Wright are interesting.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

58. It's that fighter-victim mentality that annoys me.

Hillary supposedly can take on anything, yet if someone attacks back, they're beating up on her.

[Evergreen Emerald]

59. She was exactly correct....and the "frontrunner" excuse is BS

I will never forget that debate. Timmy handed Clinton to the boys on a silver platter, she was attacked relentlessly. Nearly every question was designed to attack her. And it worked. The excuse was that she was the front runner.

While when Timmy did another debate with Obama as the front runner--he did not attack him. Indeed when ABC gave Obama 1/8 of the treatment Clinton received--you all howled like babies.

Ferraro and Maddow were exactly correct. Both agreed that sexism played a part in how Clinton was perceived.

[chascarrillo]

60. You're saying that she wasn't the frontrunner? Hunh,

[Evergreen Emerald]

61. No...you did not understand.

I am saying they attacked her and would have no matter what her status. The "front-runner" was an excuse to take her down and humiliate her. And Obama and Edwards took the silver platter.

[chascarrillo]

63. So, everyone attacking the frontrunner is unusual in debates? Hunh.

And let's be clear that at that early part of the campaign, she was trouncing everyone by 20+ points. Of course she's going to be attacked by everybody!

Jesus!

[Evergreen Emerald]

65. Yet, she is the only front runner who was attacked to viciously by Timmy

That is my point. Jeez..I do not know how many different ways I can say this: when Obama was the front runner HE WAS NOT ATTACKED. The "front runner" status WAS AN EXCUSE to attack Clinton.

[rateyes]

68. Not attacked, my ass. Hillary has attacked him over and over again

and in debates. I guess you forgot Stephanopoulos, too.

[chascarrillo]

69. The poster also forgets the SC debate where Clinton and Edwards ganged up on Obama.

[rateyes]

74. We remember what we want to remember, and conveniently

forget that which doesn't fit our own arguments.

[wowimthere]

64. Yessss... I see... I'm a fighter but I'm a victim. She is trying to have it both ways. Not working

[Pisces]

66. I love how Rachel pointed out that it was Hillary who called herself a girl!! that was a disgusting

moment for all women. I would never trivialize myself by calling myself a girl in front of my male counterparts. She needs to hold the mirror up and examine her own sexism in this race.

[SoonerPride]

67. It is sexist to ask girls hard questions.

Didn't you get the memo?

[madrchsod]

71. the last dying breath of the old boomer generation.....

i will be so glad when i can no longer hear old boomers rattle on about this crap....

[geiger]

72. the old feminist boomers that told us we could have it all, and it just ain't true, and...

...look who's bitter now.

[ekwhite]

73. She wasn't given a level playing field

She was given a playing field tilted in her direction, and she still lost.

[rateyes]

75. Yes. Actually she was the one pushing for all those

state primaries/caucuses to be held on Super Tuesday, and for the penalty of losing all your delegates if they went before Super Tuesday, because she held such a strong lead early, and wanted to wrap up the nomination by Super Tuesday. When her strategy didn't work, she then was against all those rules she pushed for in the beginning.

When you can't when by your own rules, it's disingenuous to say "the rules weren't fair."