Update: Fixed. Thanks, Ben.
I admit I find the idea of foreign baddies looking wild-eyed and saying "OK lady, put down the gun" more than amusing.
Then too, she could use a carrot with the stick to the Muslim nations. "72 virgins? I'll send Bill around. Listen to him and you can do much better than that."
I think it has been a mistake to allow women to be Sec State. While we may not have seen dramatic improvement under men, my thinking is that women Secretaries definitely make things worse. Why? 1)In most of the world, women are second class citizens and it strikes me as arrogant and insulting to those leaders to send a woman to engage in diplomacy. 2)Law of the tribe/schoolyard says men will accept the power of stronger men. Otherwise you get beat up. But women can't, as a rule, beat men up. Outside of their wives, men won't tolerate being told off by itty-bitty women. It breeds defiance and a noncooperative attitude. It's in our genetic code. So, my thinking is that the female Sec State can be seen as a variant of the old 'kill the messenger story'. Of course being a feeble mind, perhaps my thinking is way off base?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous:
ReplyDeleteYou are not feeble minded at all. I totally agree with you. Women will listen to women and children will listen to women but women need to be extrodinary in order for men to listen to them. A barrier needs to be overcome simply because she is a woman before one can even begin diplomacy.
http://bestemailforwards.blogspot.com/2008/01/north-carolina-highway-sign.html
ReplyDeleteEnough said.
I Think they said that about Queen Elizabeth I, too.
ReplyDeleteIt's in our genetic code.
ReplyDeleteWould that be grade A, Neanderthal DNA, or simple, garden-variety, knuckle-dragging DNA?
oh...that was so mean of me.
Seriously though...Do we choose our leaders by our own standards, or by what we think other countries would like and respond to? Because if we are going to worry about how other countries respond to us, then maybe we should pick a Muslim to be sec. of state. Think of the street cred they would have in Iran.
I shouldn't comment when cranky.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeletea second comment...
My first one was reactionary.
Besides your personal feeling that women make things worse...what do you bring to show this idea to be true?
You find the idea... what? You never finished your sentence.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with Hillary Clinton is her weakness, not her sex. She is not a good choice. And if her lack of personal substance no longer counts for anything, her conflict of interest due to Bill Clinton's corrupt dealings around the world should be a deal-killer.
ReplyDelete