Barbara Boxer and, no surprise, Republican Hypocrisy
Two Republicans are the front runners for their party's candidate to challenge Barbara Boxer next year. She's a very liberal Senator and one of the two people to make me vote for a Third Party candidate for the first time. When she first ran for the Senate, she ran against an equally extreme Republican and I couldn't vote for either. Many folks in both parties had that problem.
It seems that, a while back, she was on a Committee that was questioning some military leaders. Usually, Senators are addressed with their title, as in "Senator Boxer". Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh decided she wasn't important enough to do so. He'd never call a male Senator "Mr." or "Sir", but referred to Boxer as "Ma'am". She corrected him and requested he address her properly.
No surprise, the Republicans think that was wrong. How dare a woman be treated equally to a man?
The most hypocritical part of the escapade is who one of the Republicans is: Carly Fiorina. She's the former CEO of HP. She left in disgrace after making enormous mistakes and using some questionable ethics. As head of HP, she made no bones about making it clear that she earned her place at the head of one of the largest companies in technology.
As the AP points out, Fiorina has decided that's it's wrong of Boxer to expect that people grant her the same respect that they grant male Senators. Fiorina has created a Web site dedicated to hassling Boxer.
I'm hoping that California's electorate hurts her for that, though it might help her in the primary. She's preaching to the choir, and the Republican choir sits on the far right of the church these days. However, the main body of Californians are closer to the center than Boxer or Fiorina's intended audience. Boxer makes no apology for who she is, she doesn't fake it and doesn't pander as much as many Senators (all do, even her...). As much as I might disagree with some of her stands, she's moved a little to the center since coming to the Senate while the Republican Party has moved further right.
If something weird happened and I moved to California before the next election, I don't think I've be voting Libertarian this time. It'd probably be for Boxer.
It seems that, a while back, she was on a Committee that was questioning some military leaders. Usually, Senators are addressed with their title, as in "Senator Boxer". Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh decided she wasn't important enough to do so. He'd never call a male Senator "Mr." or "Sir", but referred to Boxer as "Ma'am". She corrected him and requested he address her properly.
No surprise, the Republicans think that was wrong. How dare a woman be treated equally to a man?
The most hypocritical part of the escapade is who one of the Republicans is: Carly Fiorina. She's the former CEO of HP. She left in disgrace after making enormous mistakes and using some questionable ethics. As head of HP, she made no bones about making it clear that she earned her place at the head of one of the largest companies in technology.
As the AP points out, Fiorina has decided that's it's wrong of Boxer to expect that people grant her the same respect that they grant male Senators. Fiorina has created a Web site dedicated to hassling Boxer.
I'm hoping that California's electorate hurts her for that, though it might help her in the primary. She's preaching to the choir, and the Republican choir sits on the far right of the church these days. However, the main body of Californians are closer to the center than Boxer or Fiorina's intended audience. Boxer makes no apology for who she is, she doesn't fake it and doesn't pander as much as many Senators (all do, even her...). As much as I might disagree with some of her stands, she's moved a little to the center since coming to the Senate while the Republican Party has moved further right.
If something weird happened and I moved to California before the next election, I don't think I've be voting Libertarian this time. It'd probably be for Boxer.