Podhoretz on Hillary Clinton's "virtues": "I use the B-word to describe her" because she "has qualities that we commonly associate with being unfeminine"
New York Post columnist John Podhoretz discussed his new book, Can She Be Stopped? Hillary Clinton Will Be the Next President of the United States Unless ..., on Hannity & Colmes and acknowledged that he used the "B-word" to describe Sen. Clinton because she "has qualities that we commonly associate with being unfeminine."
On the May 9 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, New York Post columnist and Fox News contributor John Podhoretz discussed his new book about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Can She Be Stopped? Hillary Clinton Will Be the Next President of the United States Unless ... (Crown Forum, May 2006), and acknowledged that he used the "B-word" to describe Clinton. Podhoretz commented that "the first woman president has to be somebody who has qualities that we commonly associate with being unfeminine," adding: "And those are all qualities, I think, Hillary Clinton holds."
Podhoretz refers to Clinton as "a bitch" on page 67 of Can She Be Stopped?:
Just for vulgarity's sake, let me put it this way: She's got to be a bitch. And Hillary is a bitch. Her challenge will be to play up her antifeminine qualities without being completely without charm and appeal.
Republicans and conservatives are sure she has neither charm nor appeal. And, indeed, she doesn't have much. But she probably has enough.
When later confronted by co-host Alan Colmes with some of the nastier epithets he directed at Clinton -- calling her, in Colmes's words, "flat and unwomanly" -- Podhoretz suggested these insults were intended as backhanded compliments, calling them part of his "tribute" to Clinton: "Hey, I'm saying she's the first -- she's going to be the first woman president of the United States. I don't think that's very degrading. I am paying her the tribute in this book of taking her seriously as a political figure."
Notably, Podhoretz was one of many conservatives in the media to denounce journalist Edward Klein's poorly sourced and widely debunked Clinton attack book, The Truth About Hillary (Sentinel, June 2005), calling it a "hate-eography" and writing in his June 22, 2005, Post column:
This is one of the most sordid volumes I've ever waded through. Thirty pages into it, I wanted to take a shower. Sixty pages into it, I wanted to be decontaminated. And 200 pages into it, I wanted someone to drive stakes through my eyes so I wouldn't have to suffer through another word.
From the May 9 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:
SEAN HANNITY (co-host): It is a great admonition. It is a great warning, and I fully agree with you: They better not, to quote a phrase, "misunderestimate her." You say -- you describe for example -- you use the B-word to describe her.
PODHORETZ: I do, but I use the B-word to describe her and say that that is a virtue as the first woman presidential, you know, possibility.
HANNITY: Explain that, because you know what? A lot of people are going to get -- look, I know you, and you're a tell-it-like-it-is guy, but some people may misunderstand that.
PODHORETZ: OK, I'll put it to you very simply: The first woman president has to be somebody who has qualities that will convey to people that she can stand up before [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Il, [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, Osama bin Laden, all the worst men in the world, that she can pull the trigger when she has to, that she can negotiate, that she can stand tough and stand tall. Therefore, the first woman president has to be somebody who has qualities that we commonly associate with being unfeminine. She's got to be tough, she's got to be steely, she's got to be adversarial, and she's got to be difficult.
HANNITY: You use a lot of ...
PODHORETZ: And those are all qualities I think Hillary Clinton holds.
[...]
COLMES: You say in this book, "You and everyone you know," you write, "probably despise Hillary Clinton. There's almost nothing that appeals to you."
PODHORETZ: That's right.
COLMES: That's pretty harsh language and pretty hateful language, I would think. And then you say -- you call her flat and unwomanly. Why would you degrade another human being like this?
PODHORETZ: Hey, I'm saying she's the first -- she's going to be the first woman president of the United States. I don't think that's very degrading. I am paying her the tribute in this book of taking her seriously as a political figure, of saying that the qualities that made her a problematic first lady are precisely the qualities that make her a plausible first woman president.
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I'm not insulting her, I'm paying her a compliment! Classic GOP/neocon double-speak.
...has this guy looked in the mirror??!! Glass houses, baby.
This guy definitely isn't getting laid and he's probably got it in for any woman in power. It's really pathetic that books like these even get published. It's also redundant because other than trying to rally their base, the neocons have nothing going here because Hillary's chances of winning the nomination are pretty damn slim.
and a fat-ass calling Hillary " unfeminine " ????
If "bitch" is a compliment, then why does Pod feel the need to say "b-word" when he's on TV?
Very good observation.
Heck, I neither know nor care (this early anyway) what kind of president she'd make; I'm likewise a tad confused at just what people mean when they call a woman a bitch.
And seeing as I've heard a number of women called that word (even some call themselves a bitch), but I've yet to see a woman hold the office of President of the United States, I'd rather try and figure out what the word meant, before I tried to measure whether or not a bitch could faithfully execute the office of President of the United States.
Now if being a bitch means whining and nagging and complaining, then I hardly think it to be any useful qualification to the presidency, or any other public office or trust under the U.S.; but then, as a whiner and nagger and complainer is not how the word bitch was used in the above-transcript, so that's not what the word means here anyway (but maybe elsewhere; like when out shopping, or when cleaning the bathroom or the kitchen after someone's messed it up, or at that time of month when the bills are being paid, or some other time of the month).
If being a bitch means being forceful and getting your own way, then I'd say maybe it was a useful qualification to the office, but maybe not; it depends on what it was you were bitching to do or get...
If that's what a bitch is, then we have one now in the Oval Office; and if that quality in a president has served the American People well (or if that guy's a woman), I'd be surprised.
No, I don't think the word bitch, as used in the above-transcript, was meant either as a whiner-nagger-complainer, or as someone forceful and tough; no, I think in the above context the word was meant simply to describe a woman that the user of the word didn't like; that's the more common usage of the word bitch that I'm accustomed to anyhow.
As in when I hear someone say "She's a bitch", I take it to only mean that they don't like her...
Or in this specific case, that they fear her...
Fear her becoming President of the Untited States.
Or why else use the term "B-word" in the mixed company of the American electorate?
(Because hell hath no fury like a Commander-in-Chief scorned; best to play it safe, because the woman who doesn't like to be called one, never forgets that she has been called one; and never forgets who said it, especially when they said it on TV.)
...Therefore, the first woman president has to be somebody who has qualities that we commonly associate with being unfeminine.
I heard him make this statement and my jaw dropped. Is this what is now passing for discourse on Fox? So what if he thinks she is unfeminine! The word he used would then equate her with a female dog. He obviosly hates Hilary Clinton and this is why he was booked as a guest on this show.
That was my last time ever watching Alan Colmes as long as he works for Fox.
Podhoretz is a mean and disgusting human being. And I don't care for Hilary either.
Robert Kennedy once said of Lyndon Johnson : ''I can't stand the bastard, but he's the most formidable human being I've ever met.''
So yeah THAT could be a kind of "backhand" compliment.
I'm NOT certain the word "Bitch" can be used in the same way. I don't personally know ANY women that appreciate being called one...BUT perhaps in the down&dirty world of politics it could be considered a "backhand" compliment?
I don't think so. RFK's statement has two parts: "I can't stand the bastard" and "he's the most formidable man I've ever met." The second part is a compliment, but the first part isn't (even backhanded). If Pod had said "I can't stand that bitch, but she's the most formidable woman I've ever met" I think it would be taken the same way.
It is a TWO-PART statement.
BTW I don't know about you or anyone else here BUT I find Hillary quite attractive. Don't know where Pod gets off referring to her as "unfeminine" either.
I think these guys are just REALLY scared of her. I'm NOT convinced yet that she can win the Democratic nomination...BUT they must be.
Didn't like each other, but they had respect for each other. They each knew the other to be an utterly ruthless politician. They knew what they were each capable of, so for the most part, they tread lightly in their dealings together.
Hillary is doing great. She is a strong woman who decided she wanted to go her own way in an era where women were supposed to work in the house and do 'feminine' jobs. Even after a revolution for women rights and women opportunities, these people think we should set the clock back to 1950 and before (unless of course they can be used in the heavy industry during the war!).
He uses words that he should feel embarrassed about: unfemini? She is a woman, which makes her feminine enough, just like Coulter who is sometimes accused of being male. Besides that, Hillary is a strong woman with leadership qualities. And lets be honest: when Bush can 'run' the country (to banckruptcy, fraud, and dumbness), so can Hillary. I even dare to say she can enlighten the US. Why are some people so afraid of her? A lot of less progressive countries have female presidents, and we are in the stage to discuss whether women are allowed to have leadership positions and have their own choice in medication (contraception) and jobs.
PODHORETZ' review: "This is one of the most sordid volumes I've ever waded through. Thirty pages into it, I wanted to take a shower. Sixty pages into it, I wanted to be decontaminated. And 200 pages into it, I wanted someone to drive stakes through my eyes so I wouldn't have to suffer through another word. "
Apparently he neither took a shower or put down the box of twinkies as he turned page after page. Good god man, if you cut yourself shaving cream cheese would pour from the wound.
But on a more serious note, shouldn't we wait until say, the 2006 elections or Hillary actually announces her candidacy to start bashing her Cons? You're getting a bit ahead of yourself here.
Like Mr. Podhoretz, I also called a woman 'flat' and 'unwomanly'. Why do people find this offensive? It's a compliment!
This is like when people say:
"Don't take this the wrong way, but ..." Then they go on to insult you.
What other way can you take "Bitch" and "Flat and unwomanly"?
The "Hate Hillary Club" just want to trash Hillary and claim that somehow it's flattery to do so. They do this so as to appear high-minded instead of crass and petty. The sad part is, this strategy works all to well on many people.
So it appears the neo-cons have all but given up hope on retaining the White House in '06. Good for them. Glad they are finally being realistic.
But name-calling? C'mon, that sounds so... neo-con!
A Bitch is a female dog. Calling someone a bitch is an attempt to undermine their humanity. However, if Podhoretz really believes that a good president is inhuman, this might be a compliment, and it would also explain why he supports the current president
I love a guy whom can with a intellectual's certainty that the first woman president will have to be "flat" and a bitch!
Republican's love their women in the kitchen, changing diapers, cleaning the house, and on the back at night. When a lady would be president she naturally would have to be a bitch.
Whoever that soccer mom was that voted for Bush; his name would be a vulgar word of a vagina, not that he understands women as though he had a vagina. He may be a bush, but that wouldn't be good for the leader of the free world so far as a woman would be concerned.
This fat balding man speaking of a woman's anatomy as though he would be aquainted with it without porn or a prostitute is very suspect at best.
Happy Thoughts;
Dan Grady
I use the P-word when I speak of him because he has qualities that we commonly associate with being porcine.
very few have heard her for any length of time. i saw her on meet the press a couple years ago and she comes off very well. if the republicans think she would be easy, they are wrong. someone at work, a dittohead, told me she only won in new york because all the liberals voted for her. to which i replied, whoever voted for her, it was a lot of people. my personal favorites: gore [how could any country pick an illiterate goofball over him], wes clark [who could have won in 2004] and hillary [which means we get the big dog back, remember it was two for one].
What's the difference? Takes one to know one I always say.
His book sounds like a really good one to not read.
MEFIRST, you remind me of a line from "MacArthur." The Japanese gentleman was upset. It was a disaster. A woman had won the election for mayor of an outback town. He was thinking the old rules, women a commodity, fit to be mothers but unfit to lead. MacArthur didn't try to explain but simply ask him, "how many votes did she get?" He blurted out, "over 200,000" and then it came to him. Podsickles will get it before it's all over. Hillary wasn't appointed senator. At least he's noticed that liberals vote. That's a start. Now he needs to count the liberal, (his version of liberal) votes. That could tax his ability to count. How high can he count is the real question.
Whether Clinton is a "bitch" or not doesn't matter. What matters are her policy statements and her legislative record. She's beholden to the same corporate and wealthy interests as much of the rest of them. That doesn't make her a "bitch", that makes her a Conservative.
Then our entire government is Conservative. Who doesn't receive contributions from corporations? Answer: the public. Name one political figure in federal office that isn't in the pockets of one lobbying consortium or another. It's a sign of the times: legalized corruption. I say make them go back to standing out behind Dumpsters to procure their bribes, in a place as corrupt smelling as their blood money.
Watergate, the real one happened because the Hughes corproation always secretely gave large sums to both candidates making both beholding to them. Nixon found out about McGovern's and was worried sick that what he had received was also known and would be sprung on him at an inoportune time. That's what his burglars were looking for, proof that Nixon had been lathered in money too.
--in the congress would end the corruption of special interest money in the eyes of some. That's as old as, "Teapot Dome" or older. If their votes were secret then they could lie about which way they voted. Lie. That has a familiar ring doesn't it.
you can't be a woman AND make tough decisions...thank YOU., professor moron..