HILLARY CLINTON TAKES US TO WAR, OR HOW IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO TOPPLE A MACHO CREEP by libertreee
(libertarian)
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Geraldine Ferraro was a tough lady. Her passing is eulogized everywhere. 'I stand on her shoulders" said Sarah Palin between moose hunts. When Ferraro ran for vice president in 1984, she was constantly questioned about her toughness. At least one prominent journalist wondered if the Soviets might take advantage of her simply because of her gender.
A woman in high office has to be seen as tough but feminine. Hillary Clinton has carefully molded her persona to fit the bill. She stoically endured her husband's well publicized infidelities. When Congresswoman Pat Schroeder cried during her Presidential campaign, she was called weak. Hillary also cried during a campaign. In 2008, when she was asked how tough it was to be a woman candidate. the tears welled up. That time, a harried woman's tears worked well for her. Since she was perceived by the public as a tough woman , surrounded by other tough and secretly not so tough, but different women, a little dollop of folksy feminine warmth helped make her seem more human.
As Secretary of State, we now have two separate instances of her Amazonian inclination to lead us into war, and her powers over a vacillating President who otherwise might listen to other more cautious opinions from male advisors.
Women who ascend to corporate power in the business world have to make the "tough decisions" as well. But downsizing a corporation to make it more profitable is a much different type of toughness. Having to prove your toughness by advocating sending young men (and women) into combat in far off lands to kill or be killed is peculiar to one institution: the state. Hillary's fascination with making war may have led to her silly statement that she was once under sniper fire in Bosnia. To be sure, many male politicians have also inflated their war experiences for media consumption.
When Hillary was appointed Secretary of State, she claimed to be an advocate of "soft power". The neoliberal mind has to cloak its policy ambitions to appease the pacifist left in the Democrat party as well as the interventionist center. There is nothing at all soft, or even smart, about the use, or threatened use, of state military power to achieve political ends. War is hell, and results in death, destruction, disease and myriads of unintended consequences. Calling war "humanitarian" would make a pig sporting lipstick seem beautiful. For neoliberals like Hillary, war is always an optionthat is "on the table".
Now Hillary and the other left wing viragos have succeeded in pushing their President into another undeclared war in the Middle East. It remains to be seen how smart this choice will be for the Democrats in 2012.
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