Noonan: Hillary Clinton "has to prove she's a woman"
Peggy Noonan began her June 22 Wall Street Journal column by asserting that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) "doesn't have to prove she's a man. She has to prove she's a woman." Noonan went on to write that Clinton "has to prove she has normal human warmth, a normal amount of give, of good nature, that she is not, at bottom, grimly combative and rather dark." She also claimed that the Clintons' spoof of a scene from the series finale of HBO's The Sopranos "jokingly acknowledges what the Clintons well know: that a certain portion of the voting population sees them as ... well, as gangsterish."
Noonan's column, headlined "What's Not to Like: The soft side, and the underside, of Hillary Clinton's campaign," said of Clinton: "Get in her way and she'd squish you like a bug. This has been her reputation for 20 years. And it is her big problem. People want a president to be strong but not hard." Noonan also asserted that, in 1992, the Clintons' "consultants were alarmed to find the American people did not believe Hillary was a mother" but, rather, that she was "a person with breasts in a suit. She had a briefcase and a latte and was late for the meeting, but no way did she have a child."
Later, referring to an online video produced by Sen. Clinton's presidential campaign that features Sen. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, spoofing the final scene from the Sopranos series finale, Noonan claimed, "The film jokingly acknowledges what the Clintons well know: that a certain portion of the voting population sees them as ... well, as gangsterish. As dark, and dishonest to a degree more extreme than is usual even in political figures." Noonan asserted that now "is a good time for the Clinton campaign to face the charge that they're Tony and Carmela," referring to fictional mob boss Tony Soprano and his wife. Media Matters for America has noted a pattern of media figures portraying the Clintons and their staff as ruthless and even violent.
and yet chelsea has turned out a fine young woman without a hint of scandal like the george w. and jeb bush children. i don't think that's an accident.
Ann the man First!
Peggy Noonan has to prove she's a human being.
She is no human being, she is a tool of the Right wing. The attacks on Hillary continue from these terrible people.
Claiming that right wingers aren't even human would embarrass most people.
Good for you, stay strong!
Noonan no one.
If she were not a woman I am sure the prostate exam Dr. would have come forward by now................
The Reagan lover is at it again. Peggy be quiet.
I think that after these comments, Peggy Noonan should have to prove to us that she is NOT a crack-snorting, LSD smoking, Schaivo-pod.
Out of all the threads today, this story makes me the most angry. Who in the hell does Peggy Noonan think she to make this sort of statement? Hillary is a better person and women than Peggy could ever dream of. Up your Noonan.
Politics makes you angry?
Get a life before you hurt yourself.
Politics is not supposed to get us angry? Why do we get involved then in your opinion? Should we ignore everything and watch Entertainment Tonight?
I get angry when someone tries to hurt a loved one, not when people emotionally invested in one of the two major political parties, both of which care more about power than the American people, gripe about this or that political issue.
When this stuff stops being fun for me, I'll leave it alone and do something else.
For now, I'd rather spend my Friday nights having a nice time with friends, instead of chanting angry slogans at a rally for tree-frogs or whatever it is lefties do.
Get a brain before you further embarass yourself
Oops, too late Solon. He's already past that point.
You can snort LSD but you have to smoke crack. bush told me that in an email. Hey you would have drank and done coke too, like bush, if your mother ran around in a thong at the White House.
That is not a pretty picture.
It is comforting to me to see many here reject and demean good advice.
Here's some good advice. F**k Off Troll.
I think there are right wing shills that are paid to come on this site to plant seeds of doubt in reality. I also think this is about as effective as me planting books on Darwin in the back of pews in So. babtist churches in all of Mississippi
Looks like a long weekend on site.
Will AC offer to instruct on how to be a proper respectful lady?
Let's not forget it was Peggy who adovocating shooting looters during the Katrina crisis. Now that was a warm, cozy and lady like position. I don't think cold hearted Hannah should lecture another woman about softening their image.
Great point Lynn, I forgot that. The nice Republican queen that she is wanted to shoot fellow Americans hurt by the worst mismanagement and Bush administrations criminal behavior.
." Noonan went on to write that Clinton "has to prove she has normal human warmth, a normal amount of give, of good nature, that she is not, at bottom, grimly combative and rather dark."
In other words, Hillary has to prove she's not a Republican.
Hillary doesn't have to prove a freaking thing to these people.
They're not going to vote for her anyway ...
If she is ellected I hope to see "what goes around comes around" I would warm the dark recesses of my soul and the bottom of my heart. Delicious retribution
Noonan asserted that now "is a good time for the Clinton campaign to face the charge that they're Tony and Carmela," referring to fictional mob boss Tony Soprano and his wife. Media Matters for America has noted a pattern of media figures portraying the Clintons and their staff as ruthless and even violent.
Humm, Vince Foster, Webb Hubble, Sandy Burgler, Mark Rich....
The travel office staff...
Tony Clinton? Monica, Paula, Juanita...
Come on now, Man up! Man up!
You could do a little of that yourself, Col. Campbell.
Yeah, I know! All those different, bogus charges leveled against the Clintons and yet everything was tossed out after years of ruthless investigations. And they're supposedly portrayed as mobsters. Go figure.
It's easy to make that portrayal when you have control of 91% of the radio broadcasting spectrum. IF only half of the listeners belive that crap, that's 45.5 %. That's the only reason Republicans are even CLOSE in the elections.
You have 91 percent of faculty and educators. Can't wait to see the Fair Education Act when 50 percent of educators are forced to be Republicans.
Did you see the poll where 90 percent of journalists donate to Democrats! Can't wait to see the Fair Reporting Act when 40 percent of them get fired and Republicans brought in.
I don't have any educators in my pocket. They do seem like a more informed group overall, yet we all have our bias.
The 90% figure was based on a very small sample; it only reflected people who donate (small percentage); included mostly people with no power to influence coverage, and as we previously said over and over, it's all about ownership.
i guess i missed the poll where "90% of journalists donate to democrats". the one i saw said that 143 journalists out of 100,000 possible gave to a candidate. not quite the same, but maybe it's just leather failing to catch a clue as usual.
Bill Clinton...impeached and disbared for lying under oath. He should be next to Scooter Libby.
Clinton has WHAT to do with this thread?Go back to your bridge troll
What exactly does Bill Clinton have to do with this topic ? Is this an attempt by you to take us off topic? Lots of this seems to be occuring on these posts lately.
Given Peggy Noonan's clear support of neoconservative philosophy, I'm not surprised by her comments. Neoconservatives have hated the Clinton's for a very long time, and for them it is an addiction.
Keep it up Noonan, and I might just for for Clinton. After all, if the neoconservatives hate her, she must be good for America!
Some time back Hillary had a book out on the market. Tucker said he would eat his shoe if her sales reached expectation. Hillary's book passed the expectation mark. She was classy enough to show up on Tucker's show and give him a cake made to look like a shoe. This helped Tucker save face and what does Tucker do; he turns around and smears Hillary.
Tucker is the typical right winger do something good for them and you get a knife in your back anyway.
I've noticed a tread coming. Remember the Compassionate Conservative bulloney, well now we have O'Reilly claiming liberals are the selfish crowd, we have Noonan saying Hillary isn't a warm human. The Conservative right wingers are taking what is usually characteristic of themselves and pinning it on the anyone besides themselves.
So the Conservative Right Wingers are smiling while hiding a dagger behind their backs. Where have we seen this before; oh yeah when Bush said he was a compassionate guy and once in power he unleashed hell on everyone's life except for the elite wealthy and war profiteers.
Harlequan, you describe Republican's well known penchant for "projectile dysfunction". Oh, except for Jeter, hereafter known as EFJ. ;). They love to project their worst qualities on us, I actually don't think they see any other way to process thoughts other than through their own projections EFJ.
EFJ
Yeah Julia I like that :-) [though there could be a bit of sarcasm there?]
Noonan a real bottom feeder
Questioned Hillary's role as a leader
Innuendo she'll construe
Cons are such a motley crew
Well of course except for Jeter
Jeter, that gave me a good belly laugh!
defective character traits onto their opponents, like the fact that they hate people, not behaviors, so we must do the same, but...
They also are guilty of attacking their opponent's strengths. They went after Kerry's wonderful military record because Bush looked shabby in comparison.
Hillary is able to stand up for herself, a necessary and expected trait in a man running for president, but somehow they've tried to turn it into a failing on her part!
Keep an eye out for both these faulty characterizations!
Notthat,
You are incorrect. Kerry's record was only brought into the campaign after the left went after Bush's military record.
At that point, the unspoken-but-always-followed rule that military records are off limits in campaigns had been violated, and no one saw any problem going after Kerry in the same way.
Did Bush have a military record? I thought they were lost or maybe he was lost.
The only quibble I have with your post is I think you should add Bruce to that list.
Peggy must be confabulating that surprise scene from "The Crying Game" with real-life again.
Noonam should have to prove she is not a man. I've seen her.
Dave,
Yeah.......Noonan and Ann Coulter need to step up and prove that they are women!
But must prove they are human first!
Peggy Noonan has clearly lost her mind.
JEEZ, Peg! She chose a CELINE DION song for her campaign! What more do you WANT?
Aside from her vote on war authorization, I've been mostly reserved in my feelings about Hillary as a presidential candidate. While I don't necessarily find the rightwing's assessment of her to be accurate, there's one thing about her that has really emerged for me as of late. While she does need to do her own thing and does need to do what's necessary to 'run with the big dogs', I believe she can learn a lot from the campaigns that her husband ran.
Bill connected with people. He was about as far from "gangsterish" as someone could be. He came across as very easy going. When he took questions from ordinary citizens I always got the feeling that he genuinely enjoyed engaging them. He skillfully exploited his air of southern hospitality. Bill was always smiling and always upbeat.
Like I said, Hillary needs to be Hillary, and while I don't find her to be "shrill" or "gangsterish", I do think she needs to start making a stronger connection with people.
I just joined the group so this is my first post. The opposition will try and run down the one they fear most in any election, POTUS, more than any other. A quote of my own I use often--"Accuse your opponent of doing what you are doing so you will know what you are doing.". I strongly support Hillary and think she will be our next President.
Wecome Lyle:
I hope you enjoy your time here. I'm not up on all the terminology myself. That maybe what is refferred to as projection.
This is bizarre ... and so typical ... on so many levels.
First, the Rightwing has expended great effort to tell us that one difference between Liberals and Conservatives is that Conservatives make decisions based on reason and facts, while Liberals use emotions and feelings. Then here comes Noonan, who for years has been writing columns based on nothing more than HER "feelings", "impressions", and emotional reactions. No facts, no reasoning, PURE EMOTION. Doesn't she realize that her approach is roundly rejected by her compatriots?
To be a good rightwinger, Noonan needs to take a page from Barbara Bush's book, a woman who can't be bothered with empathy or compassion.
Barbara Bush said of the war in Iraq, “Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? ... why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?” Want to talk COLD and HARD?
Frankly, I'm happy to see this coordinated Rightwing effort to characterize Hillary (as ... whatever; thuggish, gangster, hard, cold, manish) ... because it shows the rightwing's desperation. If they had anything of SUBSTANCE to hit Hillary with, it would be wall-to-wall on talk radio. As it stands, the assault on Hillary is diminished to critiques on the tone of her voice.
Hillary is smarter than all these guys put together. As a brain trust, Noonan, Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Hume, and all the usual rightwing bloviators ... are outnumbered, brain-wise. Hillary by herself makes all these idiots look like fools, and the more they rant, the higher Hillary goes up in the polls.
It was once said of the Clintons, "They are LUCKY in their enemies." This becomes more clear, as the things PROMOTED by 90% of talk radio (Bush) is REJECTED by 80% of the population. In math, this is called an "inverse proportion" ... the more the rabid rightwing PUSHES an agenda, the more the public REJECTS it. Conversely, the more the rabid rightwing attempts to SMEAR someone, the more the public EMBRACES him or her. I LOVE it. The Rightwing has perfected the REVERSE "Midas Touch" ... whatever they touch turns to crap. It's about time.
How does she have to prove she is a women? Does Peggy not have glasses?
Is Peggy not the same person that helped Papa Bush with his "thousand point of light" Speech? Did she not support GW Bushie in 2004 and leave her WSJ job? Ugly and bias, its clear she is in the Rove camp.
She may be a woman, but she's still a sociopathic killer who works for AIPAC, will keep US forces in Iraq indefinitely, will keep killing arab civilians for Israel, and will continue to sell out our country out to corporate interests.
It's no wonder they never talk issues on the news. If they did, we'd find BOTH parties have the same damn criminal agenda!
Yes, we are all sociopaths according to you. Sheesh. Your "I hate everybody" bit is very tiresome. Of course I do realize I'm talking to a brick wall.
I have to say that "Sopranos parody" made me cringe and was an incredibly bad idea. What were they thinking? If that’s how clumsy the Clinton brain trust is when it comes to "clever campaign idea strategy" she’s headed for big "Swift Boat river rapids" trouble. They are dealing with the most ruthless Rovian trained attack dogs on the planet and they do a "Mob Boss" skit? Right wingers were drooling after this; just read what Beck, on this site, has done with it for a quick sample. A mob boss? Holy Schism! Whoever thought this lamo crap up should be shown the highway and fast. The right wing BS machine is devious, massive, well funded and formidable. You’d think the Clinton camp would understand how to play their game better than anyone in the boxing ring. At least make them work for it and not naively serve it to them on a silver platter.
I have no idea why Hillary portrayed herself as a mobster. It would be like Bill doing a commercial and playing a philanderer.
Politically the stupidest campaign move I have ever seen out of a Clinton.
I thought the bit was cute. And very timely and very commerically viable. Portraying themselves as mobsters? Not even close to the point of course, except for people already inclined to think that way.
I have no idea why Hillary portrayed herself as a mobster. It would be like Bill doing a commercial and playing a philanderer...leatherhelmet
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Leather, this is asinine even by your low standards. It was a freaking joke, for Christ's sake, an attempt to capitalize on the hottest TV show of the moment.
Those of us who aren't obsessed with hating the Clintons get it. You obviously don't.
Get a life.
I did not see her being a mobster, It was tounge and cheek and a laugh. Your love of Hillary is showing in your statement.
Noonan is a human being. I'll be happy to "concede" that point. That's not at issue.
The question is whether she's a humane being. Shooting "looters" liberating food in the Katrina aftermath just might qualify as being inhumane, eh?
It's funny, by her own standards; Noonan would fail the "femininity" test. A more artificial hard-balled brazen dogette would be hard to find. :-)
Noonan has always struck me as a bit of a flake and she has a track record of basing her opinions on supernatural sources, including (she claims) that she predicted the deaths of both JFK and Martin Luther King. And then there was this oddity from a WSJ article a few years ago, wherein she heard about a meteorological anomaly and immediatly decided it must be a thumbs-up from God to the Vatican for approving the canonization of Juan Diego.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=95001651
On Hillary: Between Noonan saying she needs to appear more feminine and Victoria Clarke implying she can't possibly be masculine enough, I'd say we have just another day of business as usual in our disfunctional press-corp.