(no subject)
I'm having a lot of trouble dealing with the political climate these days. I'm divided pretty much straight down the middle when it comes to Hillary and Obama... I like them both, but I don't love either one. I agree with a lot of what they both have to say; they (and their supporters) have both said and done things that have made me cringe or roll my eyes or get angry. I think they could both be excellent presidents; I think they could both utterly fail to counteract the overwhelming damage done to the U.S. and everything it stands for in the last eight years. I'll vote for whoever wins the nomination (and I find the fact that this is even a question for so many democrats horribly depressing), and I'll be glad to have the opportunity to do so.
But, having said all that, the solid wall of Obama support/Hillary hate in all the corners I've mapped for myself is getting really, really old. I hate that I have to figuratively gird my loins before watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, for god's sake, because, without fail, they mock Hillary while mocking anyone who criticizes Obama (just last week Colbert spent an entire segment likening Hillary's entire campaign to the War in Iraq and suggesting her refusal to drop out and let Obama have the nomination is just like McCain's support of another 100 years in Iraq). I hate that Lorrie Moore -- Lorrie Moore, for god's sake, one of my favorite writers in the world -- wrote an op-ed piece claiming that the time for female presidents has passed because women have come far enough.
I hate that the liberal blogosphere, with the exception of sites directly focused on feminism, has settled so firmly on Obama that anyone expressing a preference for Hillary, or even anyone who expresses uncertainty that Obama is a vastly superior candidate, is routinely shouted down (which is not to say that sites focusing on feminism are all supporting Hillary -- they're not. They just don't tend to default to "Oh, you silly little girl" when dealing with commenters who support Hillary). I hate that so much of the Hillary bashing is not-even-thinly-veiled misogyny, and I hate that so much of the response to this misogyny (again, from the liberal spaces I usually think of as "safe") is either "She deserves it, because she's a bitch" or attempts to claim that misogyny doesn't exist or somehow doesn't "count" in this instance.
I hate the number of people who actively supported, say, Howard Dean, who are now claiming that no one should vote for Hillary because she can't win and that's just what right-wingers want us to do. I hate that the two (and only two) Hillary-support LJ posts I have seen on my flist both expressed trepidation about posting at all, since Obama support/Hillary dislike is considered the default, and I hate knowing that people will use my liking Hillary as well as Obama as just another tick in the "feminazi" column.
I'm not, at all, suggesting that any of this makes Obama a less worthy candidate, or that he hasn't also been subjected to prejudice and unfair treatment... of course he has, and it would be ridiculous to imply otherwise. But in my own carefully selected spaces -- the corners of LJ I frequent, the liberal blogs I read (or, in many cases, used to read, after having seen one too many Hillary supporters dismissed as irrational, hysterical, illogical, female), the politically focused TV I watch -- the blanket assumption of Obama support and Hillary dislike, and the frequent outright dismissal of anyone who doesn't share that view, has become flat-out exhausting, and I really hate that I have no idea where to go to get away from it.
But, having said all that, the solid wall of Obama support/Hillary hate in all the corners I've mapped for myself is getting really, really old. I hate that I have to figuratively gird my loins before watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, for god's sake, because, without fail, they mock Hillary while mocking anyone who criticizes Obama (just last week Colbert spent an entire segment likening Hillary's entire campaign to the War in Iraq and suggesting her refusal to drop out and let Obama have the nomination is just like McCain's support of another 100 years in Iraq). I hate that Lorrie Moore -- Lorrie Moore, for god's sake, one of my favorite writers in the world -- wrote an op-ed piece claiming that the time for female presidents has passed because women have come far enough.
I hate that the liberal blogosphere, with the exception of sites directly focused on feminism, has settled so firmly on Obama that anyone expressing a preference for Hillary, or even anyone who expresses uncertainty that Obama is a vastly superior candidate, is routinely shouted down (which is not to say that sites focusing on feminism are all supporting Hillary -- they're not. They just don't tend to default to "Oh, you silly little girl" when dealing with commenters who support Hillary). I hate that so much of the Hillary bashing is not-even-thinly-veiled misogyny, and I hate that so much of the response to this misogyny (again, from the liberal spaces I usually think of as "safe") is either "She deserves it, because she's a bitch" or attempts to claim that misogyny doesn't exist or somehow doesn't "count" in this instance.
I hate the number of people who actively supported, say, Howard Dean, who are now claiming that no one should vote for Hillary because she can't win and that's just what right-wingers want us to do. I hate that the two (and only two) Hillary-support LJ posts I have seen on my flist both expressed trepidation about posting at all, since Obama support/Hillary dislike is considered the default, and I hate knowing that people will use my liking Hillary as well as Obama as just another tick in the "feminazi" column.
I'm not, at all, suggesting that any of this makes Obama a less worthy candidate, or that he hasn't also been subjected to prejudice and unfair treatment... of course he has, and it would be ridiculous to imply otherwise. But in my own carefully selected spaces -- the corners of LJ I frequent, the liberal blogs I read (or, in many cases, used to read, after having seen one too many Hillary supporters dismissed as irrational, hysterical, illogical, female), the politically focused TV I watch -- the blanket assumption of Obama support and Hillary dislike, and the frequent outright dismissal of anyone who doesn't share that view, has become flat-out exhausting, and I really hate that I have no idea where to go to get away from it.