Hil and Bill

Drudge says "Hillary Clinton has insisted that Bill Clinton give her 'final say'... "

Murdock's Daily News says "I'm boss, Hil tells Bill" Senator's word is now 'final,' says the ex-Prez


I'm not a Hillary supporter. But I can see what's happening here.

Two mainstays of the rightwing echo chamber are attacking Hillary as a strong woman, attempting to make her seem extreme, over-bearing, de-masculinizing, controlling.

The fact is, she is being quite reasonable with her partner. With a partner, when you are working on a project, you cooperate and coordinate. You agree to work together to synergize and complement your efforts and energies.

When your partner and you are both political, this idea of cooperation makes sense. Since Bill is no longer the one running for office, it makes sense that he coordinate with Hillary, and that her presidential aspirations hold sway in the decision-making process.

But the right wing smear machine, the swift-boating, high repetition looping mockery mechanism is clearly at work here. Expect to see it more and more as elections come closer. The interesting thing about this particular spin is that it may boomerang. The right wingers who will laugh at this the most are the wimpy, rifle owning men (they need the extra phallic symbols) who are anti abortion, anti contraception because they are ways to control women. They are the born again men, the NASCAR dads who want women home, barefoot and pregnant- not holding higher paying jobs than they have, not running for president.

But there are a lot of strong women and men who feel just fine about a man respecting his wife's needs. There are a lot of strong men who know that respecting a wife's needs is part of being a partner in a healthy relationship.

That won't stop the right wing echo chamber from trying to frame Hillary as extreme, shrill, controlling, man-like, dominating. But that's all spin. Get ready for a lot more as the elections get closer.

Me, I'm more concerned that Hillary is unable to say she screwed up supporting the war and she's still unable to say the kinds of things that Russ Feingold has been saying.